EinMrf?
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THE MEMOIRS OF
PHILIP DE COMMINES
LORD OF ARGENTON
CONTAINING THE HISTORIES OF LOUIS XI. AND CHARLES VIIL,
KINGS OF FRANCE, AN' I) OF CHARLES THE BOLD,
DUKE OF BURGUNDY
TO WHICH IS ADDED
THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE
OR SECRET HISTORY OF LOUIS XL
By JEAN DE TROYES
EDITED WITH LIFE AND NOTES BY
ANDREW R. SCOBLE
VOL. II.
LONDON
G. BELL & SONS, LTD.
1912
ISAAC FOOT
LIBRARY
")
[Reprinted from Stereotype platee.J
CONTEXTS
Off
THE SECOND VOLUME.
BOOK THE SIXTH.
Chapter I. — How the King of France cajoled the English after
the Duke of Burgundy's Death, for fear they should have interrupted
him in the Conquest of the Territories belonging to the said
Duke ...... page \
Ch. II. — Of the Conclusion of the Marriage between the Princess of
Burgundy and Maximilian Duke of Austria, and since Emperor 9
Ch. III. — How King Louis, by the Management of Charles d'Amboise
his Lieutenant, recovered many Towns in Burgundy, which the Prince
of Orange had persuaded to revolt from him - - 18
Ch. IV. — How the Lord of Argenton was sent to Florence during the
Wars in Burgundy, and how he received Homage of the Duke of
Milan, in the King's Name, for the Duchy of Genoa - 25
Ch. V.— Of the Lord of Argenton's lieturn out of Italy into France,
and of the Battle of Guinegaste - - - - 32
Ch. VI. — How King Louis was surprised with a Malady that for some
Time took away the Use of both his Senses and Tongue ; how he
recovered and relapsed several Times, and how he kept himself in
his Castle at Plessis les Tours - - - - 36
Ch. VII. — How the King sent for the Holy Man of Calabria to
Tours, supposing he could cure him ; and of the strange Things that
were done by the King, during his Sickness, to preserve his Autho-
rity - -----.. 54
Ch. VIII. — Of the Conclusion of the Marriage between the Dauphin
and Margaret of Flanders, and how she was brought into France ;
upon which Edward IV., King of England, died with Displeasure 58
Ch. IX. — How the King behaved towards his Neighbours and Sub-
jects during his Sickness ; and how several Things were sent him
from several Parts for the Recovery of his Health - - 65
Cm. X — How King Louis sent for his Son Charles a little before his
Death ; and the Precepts and Commands which he laid upon him
and others - - - <">
IV CONTENTS OP
Ch. XI. — A Comparison of the Troubles and Sorrows which King
Louis suffered, with those he had brought 'upon other People ;
with a Continuation of his Transactions till the Time of his
Death ...... Page 70
Cn. XII. — A Digression concerning the Miseries of Mankind, especially
of Princes, by the Example of those who reigned in the Author's
Time, and chiefly of King Louis - - - - 80
BOOK THE SEVENTH.
Ch. T. — How Duke Rene of Lorraine came into France to demand the
Duchy of Bar and the County of Provence, which King Charles had
in his Possession ; and how he failed to obtain the Kingdom of
Naples, to which he laid Claim as well as the King ; and what Right
each had thereto - - - - - -93
Ch. II. — How the Prince of Salerno, a Neapolitan by Birth, came
into France; and the Endeavours that were used by him and Ludovic
Sforza, surnamed the Moor, to persuade the King to make War upon
the King of Naples ; and the Occasion of it - - - 100
Cn. III.— How the Duchy of Milan is one of the finest and most va-
luable Territories in the World, if relieved from the heavy Tribute
which oppresses it- - - - - -106
Ch. IV. — How King Charles VIII. made Peace with the King of the
Romans and the Archduke of Austria •, and returned the Lady Mar-
garet of Flanders to them before his Expedition to Naples - 110
Ch. V. — How the King sent to the Venetians, in order to induce them
to enter into an Alliance with him, before undertaking his Expedition
to Naples ; and of the Preparations in order to it - - 119
Ch. VI. — How King Charles set out from Vienne, in Dauphiny, to con-
quer Naples in Person ; and the Action that was performed by his
Fleet, under the Command of the Duke of Orleans - - 124
Ch. VII.— How the King, being at Asti, resolved to go in Person into
the Kingdom of Naples, by the Persuasion and Advice of Ludovic
Sforza : how Philip de Commutes was sent on an Embassy to Venice,
and of the Duke of Milan's Death - - - - 129
Ch. VIII. — How and by what Means the Lord Ludovic seized and
usurped the Lordship and Duchy of Milan, and was received by the
Milanese as their Sovereign - - - - - 132
Ch. IX. - How Peter de Medicis put Four of his strongest Garrisons
into the King's Possession ; and how the King restored Pisa, which
was one of them, to its ancient Liberty ... 134
Ch. X. — How the King departed from Pisa to go to Florence ; and of
the Flight and Destruction of Peter de Medicis - - 139
Ch. XL — How the King made his Entrance into Florence, and what
other Towns he passed through in his March to Rome - - 1 43
Ch XII. — How the King sent the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula
(who was afterwards Pope by the name of Julius II ) to Ostia ; wh*j
THE SECOND VOLUME. ft
the Pope did at Rome in the Meantime ; and how the King entered
Rome, notwithstanding all the Endeavours of his Enemies to the con-
trary ; and of the Factions between the Ursini and the Colonne in
Rome - - Page 145
Ch. XIIL — How King Alphonso caused his Son Ferrand to be crowned
King ; his Flight into Sicily ; and of the evil Life his Father (old Fer-
rand) and he had led during their Reigns - - -149
Ch. XIV. — How King Alphonso fled into Castile and did Penance 153
Ch. XV. — How, after Ferrand the Younger was crowned King of Naple9,
he encamped with his Forces at St. Germain, in order to oppose King
Charles ; and of the Agreement King Charles made with the Pope
during his stay at Rome - - - - - 157
Ch. XVI. — How the King departed from Rome to Naples ; of the
Transactions in that Kingdom in the Meantime ; and an Account of
the Places the Kins of France passed through in his March - 159
Ch. XVII. — How King Charles was crowned King of Naples ; the
Errors he committed in his Government of that Kingdom ; and of the
Discovery of a Design in his Favour against the Turks by the Vene-
tians - - - - - - - • 163
Ch. XVIIL — A Digression o»- Discourse, by no Means unconnected
with the main Subject, in which Philip de Commines, Author of this
present Book, speaks at some Length of the State and Government
of the Signory of Venice, and of what he saw, and what was done,
while he was Ambassador from the King of France in the City of
Venice - - - - - - -168
Ch. XIX. — What were the Subjects of the Embassy of the Lord of
Argenton to the Republic of Venice - - - - 173
Ch, XX How the Lord of Argenton was informed that the King had
gained Possession of Naples and the Places round about ; at which
the Venetians were displeased - - - - -177
BOOK THE EIGHTH.
Ch. I. — Of the Order in which the King left his Affairs in the Kingdom
of Naples upon his Return into France - - - 183
Ch. IL — How the King departed from Naples, and returned to Rome,
from whence the Pope fled to Orvieto ; of the Conference the King
had with the Lord of Argenton upon his Return from Venice ; and
his Deliberation about the Restitution of the Florentine Towns - 186
Ch. III. — Of the memorable Preachings of Friar Jerome of Florence 189
Ch. IV. — How the King retained Pisa and several other Florentine
Towns in his Hands, while the Duke of Orleans on the other Side en-
tered Novara, in the Duchy of Milan - - - - 191
Ch. V. — How King Charles crossed several dangerous Passages over the
Mountains between Pisa and Sarzana; and how the Germans burned
Pontremoli - - - - - - -194
Ch. VL — How the Duke of Orleans behaved himself in the City of
Novara • • • - 191
VOL. U. »
VI CONTENTS OP
Ch. VII. — How the Kins; passed the Apennine Mountains with his
Train of Artillery, by the Assistance of the Swiss; and of the great
Danger to which the Marshal de Gie and his whole Vanguard were
exposed ..--_.. Page 199
Ch. VIII. — How the Marshal de Gie withdrew with his Army to the
Mountains, and waited until the King came up to him - 202
Ch. IX. — How the King and his small Army arrived at Fornovo, near
the Camp of his Enemies, who awaited him in very fine Order, and
with a Determination to defeat and capture him - - 204
Ch. X. — The Arrangement of the two Armies for the Battle of For-
novo -------- 207
Ch. XI. — How Parleys were vainly attempted; and the Beginning of
the Battle of Fornovo - - - - -211
Ch. XII. — Consequences of the Victory gained by the French at
Fornovo; and the Danger to which King Charles VIII. found him-
self exposed - - - - - - -215
Ch. XIII. — How the Lord of Argenton went alone to parley with
the Enemy, upon the Refusal of those that were deputed to go along
with him, and of the King's safe Arrival with his whole Army at
Asti -------- 220
Ch XIV. — How the Swiss secured the French Army in its Re-
treat -------- 226
Ch. XV. — How the King fitted out a Fleet with an Intention to
have relieved the Castles of Naples; and of the Miscarriage of that
Design ... . . . 228
Ch. XVL — Of the great Famine and Misery to which the Duke of
Orleans and his Army were reduced at Novara: of the Death of the
Marchioness of Montferrat: of the Death of the Duke of Vendome;
and the Conclusion of a Peace for the Preservation of the besieged
after several Negotiations ----- 232
Ch. XVII. — How the Duke of Orleans and his Army were delivered
upon Terms of Accommodation from the dire Misery they suffered
during their being besieged in Novara; and of the Arrival of the
Swiss that came to the Relief of the King and the said Duke of
Orleans - - - - - - - 242
Ch. XVIII. — How Peace was concluded between the King and the
Duke of Orleans on the one Part, and the League on the other;
and of the Conditions and Articles contained in that Treaty of
Peace -------- 245
Ch. XIX. — How the King sent the Lord of Argenton to Venice again,
to invite the Venetians to accept the Terms of Peace that were offered,
which the Venetians refused; and of the Tricks and Jugglings of
the Duke of Milan ------ 248
Ch. XX. — How the King forgot those that were left behind at
Naples, upon his Return into France; and of the Dauphin's Death,
which was a great Affliction to the King and Queen - - 253
Ch. XXI. — How the King received News of the Loss of the Castle of
Naples; of the selling of the Towns belonging to the Florentines to
THE SECOND VOLUME. Vll
several Persons; of the Treaty of Atella in Apulii), mL..h to the
Prejudice of the French; and of the Death of Ferrand, King of
Naples ...-_- Page 257
Ch. XXII. — How several Plots were formed (in Favour of our King)
by some of the Italian Princes, not only for the Recovery of Naples,
but for the Destruction of the Duke of Milan; how they miscarried
for want of Supplies; and how another Design against Genoa came
to the same ill End ------ 264
Ch. XXIII. — Of certain Differences that arose between Charles King
of France and Ferrand King of Castile; and the Ambassadors whs
were sent by both of them to accommodate the Affair - - 26o
Ch. XXIV. — A Digression concerning the Fortunes and Misfort»ne9
which happened to the House of Castile in the Author's Time 277
Ch. XXV. — Of the magnificent Building which King Charles began
not long before his Death; his good Inclination to reform the Church,
the Laws, the Treasury, and himself; and how he died suddenly in
this Resolution in his Castle at Amboise - - - 281
Ch. XXVI. — How holy Friar Jerome was burned at Florence by the
Malice and Solicitation of the Pope, and several Venetians and Flo-
rentines who were his Enemies .... 284
Ch. XXVII. — Of the Obsequies and Funeral of King Charles VIII.,
and the Coronation of his Successor Louis XII. ; with the Genealogies
of the Kings of France to King Louis XIL - 287
THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE.
The Chronicles of the very Christian and very victorious Louis of
Valois, late King of France (whom God absolve), with various other
Adventures which occurred both in the Realm of France and in
neighbouring Countries from the Year 1460 until 1483 iiiclu-
fively -...>-• <s %??
THE MEMOIRS
ow
THILIP DE COMMINES,
LORD OF ARGENTON.
BOOK THE SIXTH.
Chapter I. — How the King of France cajoled the English after the
Duke of Burgundy's Death, for fear they should have interrupted him
in the Conquest of the Territories belonging to the said Duke. — 1477
They who shall read these Memoirs hereafter, and have a
better knowledge of the affairs of this kingdom and its
neighbouring States than I have, may perhaps wonder that,
from the Duke of Burgundy's death to this time, which is
little less than a year, I have not said a word of the English,
nor of their suffering the king to seize upon those towns
which were near them, as Arras, Boulogne, Hesdin, Ardres
and several other castles, and to lie so many days before St.
Omer. The reason of it was, because, in cunning and arti-
fice, our king was much superior to King Edward, who was
indeed a brave prince, and had won eight or nine battles in
England, in which he had been always present himself, and
had fought constantly on foot, which redounded much to his
honour ; but the two kings were placed in different circum-
stances, and the English king depended not so much upon his
diligence or understanding, for upon the success of one battle
he was absolute master till another rebellion disturbed him.
In England, when any disputes arise, and occasion a war,
the controversy is generally decided in eight or ten days,
when one party or other gains the victory; but with us, on
this side of the water, affairs are managed quite otherwise.
VOL. U. B
2 TTIE MEM01KS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1177.
Our king is obliged, whilst he is carrying on any war. to
keep a watchful eye upon his neighbours, as well as over the
rest of his kingdom ; and particularly to satisfy the King of
England above all, who must be quieted at any cost, and
cajoled with ambassadors, promises, and presents, lest he
should attempt anything that might interrupt our king's
designs. For our master was well aware that the nobility,
commons, and clergy of England, are always ready tj enter
upon a war with Fiance, being incited thereunto, not only
upon the account of their old title to its crown, but by the
desire of gain, lor it pleased God to permit their prede-
cessors to win several memorable battles in this kingdom, and
to continue in the possession of Normandy and Guienne for
the space of three hundred and fifty years*, before Charles
VII. gave them the first blowf; during which time they
carried over enormcus booty into England, not only in plun-
der, which they had taken in the several towns, but in the
richness and quality of their prisoners, who were many of
them great princes and lords, who paid them vast ransom3
for their liberty; so that every Englishman afterwards hoped
to do the same thing, and return home laden with spoils.
liut this fortune was not to be looked for in our king's davs,
lor he would never have ventured the whole kingdom upon
the doubtful issue of a battle, nor have done anything so
rashly as to dismount himself, with all his nobility, to fight
on foot, as the English did at the battle of Agincourt| ; and
it' he had been reduced to that extremity, lie would cer-
tainly have managed his affairs with more prudence and
* The English became masters of the duchy of Guienne about the
year 1 1 59, in consequence of the marriage of King Henry II. with
Eleanor of Guienne. Charles VII. regained possession of the duchy in
1451 ; but Bordeaux having placed itself once more in the hands of the
English, the French king reduced it finally on the 1 7th of October, 1453.
f Commines here alludes to the series of successes obtained over the
English by the French under Joan of Arc.
% The ba tie of Agincourt was fought on the 25th of October, 1415.
The English army, under Henry V., did not consist of move than 15.000
men ; the French were, at the least. 50,000, and, by some computations,
i-rill more numerous. Thev lost 10,000 killed, of whom 9000 were
knights or gentlemen. Almost as many were made prisoners. The
English, according to Monstrelet, lost 1600 men ; but their own histo»
ram reduce this to a much smaller number.
1477 ]
THE KING OK FRANCE CAJOLES THE ENGLISH.
caution, as may be presumed from the manner of his eon-
duct wlien King Edward was in France.
The king accordingly found himself under an absolute
necessity to caress and pacify the King of England, and the
rest of his neighbours, whom he perceived inclinable to
peace, in hopes of receiving his muney ; and therefore he
paid a pension of fifty thousand crowns punctually in
London, and allowed it to be called tribute by the English.
He also distributed sixteen thousand more anions the King
of England's officers that were about his person, particularly
to the Chancellor*, the Master of the Rolls f (who is now
* Thomas Rotherham, Bishop of Lincoln, was chancellor in February,
1475. "He owed his elevation," says Lord Campbell, "to his own
merits. His family name was Scot, unillustrated in England at that
time, and, instead of it, he assumed the name of the town in the West
Hiding of Yorkshire in which he was born. He studied at King's
College, Cambridge, and was one of the earliest fellows on this royal
foundation, which has since produced so many distinguished men. He
was afterwards Master of Pembroke Hall, and Chancellor of this Uni-
versity. For his learning and piety he was at an early age selected to
be chaplain to Vere, thirteenth Earl of Oxford, and he was then taken
into the service of Edward IV. Being a steady Yorkist, he was made
Bishop of Rochester in 1467, and translated to Lincoln in 1471. In
1480, he became Archbishop of York, and he received a cardinal's hat
from the Pope." In April, 1476, he was removed from the chancellorship,
but reinstated in the office in September of the same year ; and he "con-
tinued chancellor and chief adviser of the Crown during the remainder
of the reign of Edward IV. He was considered the greatest equity
lawyer of the age." On the death of Edward IV., he delivered up the
great seal ; but though u he did not take any active part in the struggles
which ensued, he was so strongly suspected by Richard III., that he was
detained in prison till near the end of this reign. After the battle of
Bosworth he quietly submitted to the new government, but he was
looked upon with no favour by Henry VII. He died of the plague at
Cawood, in the year 1500, aged 76, and was buried in his own cathedral.
He was founder of Lincoln College, Oxford, and showed his affection to
the place of his nativity by building a college there, with three schools
for grammar, writing, and music." — Campbell's Lives of the Chu/e-
eellors, vol. i. pp. 393—403.
t " John Morton was born at Bere in Dorsetshire, of a private gentle-
man's family, in the year 1410. He received his earliest education at the
Abbey of Ceme, from whence he was removed to Balliol College, Oxford,
where he devoted himself to the study of the civil and canon law, and
took with great distinction the degree of LL. I). He then went to
London, and practised as an advocate in Doctors* Commons, where be
•uou besame the decided leader, anil rose to sueU distinc'.iuii by I »
u. 8
4 THE MEMOIRS OF PIIlLir DE COMMIXES [~1477
chancellor), the High Chamberlain, the Lord Hastings (a
man of honour and prudence, and of great authority with
his master, and deservedly, upon account of the faithful
service he had done him), Sir Thomas Montgomery, the
Lord Howard (who afterwards espoused King Richard's
interest, and was created Duke of Norfolk), the Lord Cheney,
master of the horse, Mr. Chalenger, and a certain marquis*,
who was the Queen of England's son, by her first husband.
learning and eloquence, that he gained the good opinion of Cardinal
Bourchier, who recommended him to Henry VI. He was sworn of the
1'rivv Council by that sovereign, was made prebendary of Salisbury, and
had the rich living of Blakesworth bestowed upon him. On the ac-
cession of Edward IV. he made submission to the House of York, and
the new king continued him a privy councillor, appointed him Master of
the Rolls, and conferred on him great ecclesiastical preferment, crowned
with the Bishopric of Ely. Richard III. imprisoned him, but he con-
trived to escape to the Continent. Immediately after the battle of
Bosworth, Henry VII. recalled him, raised him to the see of Canterbury
on the death of Cardinal Bourchier, procured a cardinal's hat for him
from Pope Alexander VI., and made him Lord Chancellor. He con-
tinued in this office, and in the unabated favour and confidence of his
royal master, down to the time of his death, a period of thirteen years,
during which he greatly contributed to the steadiness of the government
and the growing prosperity of the country. Several important statutes
were passed on his recommendation, including that which protects from
the pains of treason all who act under a de facto king. In 1494, Morton
was made Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and on the 13th of
September, 1500, he died, after a lingering illness. Notwithstanding
some arbitrary acts of government, which should be judged of by the
standard of his own age, he left behind him a high character for probity
as well as talents. His munificence was great, and he was personally
untainted by the vice of avarice which disgraced the sovereign. Sir
Thomas More, who was brought up in his house, says of him : ' He
was a man no less venerable for his wisdom and virtue than for the high
reputation he bore. He was of a middle stature, in advanced years, but
not broken by age; his aspect begot reverence rather than fear. He
spoke both gracefully and mightily ; he was eminently skilled in the
law ; he had a comprehensive understanding, and a very retentive me-
mory ; and the excellent talents with which nature had furnished him
were improved by study and discipline. The king depended much on
his counsels, and the government seemed to be chiefly supported by
him ; for from his youth he had been constantly practised in affairs, and
having passed through many changes of fortune, he had, at a heavy
cost, acquired a great stock of wisdom, which, when so purchased, is
found most serviceable.'" — See Lokd Campbell's Lives of the Chaif
eellors, vol. i. pp. 417 — 425
• Thomas Gray, first Marquis of Dorset.
1 477. J LIBERALITIES OF THE KING OF FRANCE. 5
Besides these great presents, he was also very generous to
ambassadors; and all who were sent to him from the English
Court, though their messages were never so harsh and dis-
pleasing, lie dispatched with such fair words and large
presents, that they went away very well satisfied with him ;
and though they were certainly assured (at least some of
them), that what he did was only to gain time to effect his
designs, yet their private interest prevailed with them to
wink at it, highly to the detriment and disadvantage of their
public affairs.
To all the persons of quality above-mentioned, the king
gave considerable presents, besides their pensions. To the
Lord Howard, besides his pension, he gave, to my certain
knowledge, in less than two years' time, in money and plate,
above twenty-four thousand crowns; and to the Lord Hastings,
who was King Edward's chamberlain, he gave at one time
one thousand silver marks in plate; and all the receipts of
every Englishman of quality, except the Lord Hastings, are
still to be seen in the chamber of accounts at Paris. This
Lord Hastings was at that time High Chamberlain of Eng-
land (an oMice of great reputation, and executed singly by
one man). It was with great difficulty and solicitation, that,
he was made one of the king's pensioners, and I was the
cause of it: for at the time when I was in the Duke of
Burgundy's service, I had brought him over to his interest,
and he allowed him a pension of a thousand crowns a year.*
Upon my telling our king what I had done, he employed me
to try what I could do to bring him over to his interest ; for
he had been his particular enemy in the Duke of Burgundy's
time, after which he became a favourer of the young Princess
of Burgundy, and was once like to have prevailed with
the King of England to cross the seas again to assist that
princess. I began our amity by letters ; the king granted
him a pension of two thousand crowns per annum, which
was double what had been paid him by the duke, and sent
one of the stewards of his house, called Peter Clairetf, with
it; giving him express orders to take his receipt, that here-
* On the 4th of May, 1471, the Duke of Burgundy granted a pension
of twelve hundred florins to Lord Hastings. — Lenglet, ii. 198.
t Pierre Cleret, esquire, councillor, and steward to Louis XL Cot
many years.
B 3
6 THE MEMOIRS OF PIIILIP DE COMJIINE?. J? 1*7.
after it might appear upon record, that the lord chamherlain,
chancellor, admiral, master of the horse, and several other
great lords of England, had been at the same time pen-
sioners to the King of France. This Peter Clairet was a
very cunning man, and was privately admitted to the lord
chamberlain, at his house in London ; and having delivered
his compliments from the king, he presented his two thou-
sand crowns in gold (for to foreign lords of great quality
the king never gave any other coin). The chamberlain
having received the gold, Peter Clairet desired his lordship
would be pleased to give him a receipt for it ; the lord
chamberlain scrupling to do it, he repeated his request, and
entreated him that he would give him only three lines under
his hand, directed to the king his master, lest his majesty
should think he had embezzled it himself, for he was of a
very suspicious temper. The lord chamberlain seeing he
persisted (though his demand was but reasonable), replied,
"Master Clairet, what you desire is not unreasonable, but this
present proceeds from your master's generosity, not from
any request of mine; if you have a mind I should receive it,
you may put it into my sleeve, but neither letter nor acquit-
tance will you have from me; for it shall never be said of
me, that the High Chamberlain of England was pensioner to
the King of France, nor shall my receipt be ever produced
in his chamber of accounts." C lairet urged the matter no
farther, but left the money, and returned his answer to the
king, who was highly displeased at his not bringing a re-
ceipt; hut he commended and valued the lord chamberlain
above all the King of England's ministers, ever after paid
him his pension constantly, and never asked for his receipt.
In this posture were aflaix-s between the King of England
and our master : however, the King of England was ear-
nestly solicited and urged to assist the young princess, and
he sent several embassies to our master to remonstrate with
him, and to press him either for a peace, or a cessation of
arms. For some of the privy council of England, and of
the Parliament (which is of the same nature as our three
Estates), were persons of wisdom and penetration, who came
nut of the country, and were not pensioners of France like
the rest, and these pressed hard, that the King of England
would interpose vigorously for the Princess of Burgundy s
1477.] POLICY OF KING LOU13. t
arging, tliat we did but dissemble with them, and amuse them
with hopes of a marriage, as it very plainly appeared : fof
at the treaty at Piequigny * the two kin;rs had mutually
sworn, that within the space of a year, the Kimj of England's
daughter should be sent for; but though the King of France
had permitted her to be styled the dauphiness, jet the time,
was elapsed, and the lady had not been sent for. But all
the arguments his subjects made use of could not prevail
with King Edward, for several reasons. King P^dward was
a voluptuous prince, wholly addicted to his pleasures and ease;
and having been, in his former expeditions, reduced to great
straits and necessities, he had no mind to involve himself
in a new war on this side of the water : the fifty thousand
crowns, too, which were punctually paid him in the Tower,
softened his heart, and hindered him from concerning him-
self in this affair. Besides, his ambassadors were always
bribed, and entertained so nobly, that they left the French
court well satisfied, though the king's answers were always un-
certain, in ordertogain time ; for they were always told that in
a few days the king would send ambassadors of his own, who
would satisfy their master in every point which had been
left in doubt.
As soon as the King of England's ambassadors were re-
turned, about three weeks or a month later, sometimes more,
sometimes less (which in such cases is a great matter), the
king our master would send his envoys ; but always new per-
sons, and such as had not been employed in any overture
with the English before, to the end that if anything had
been promised by their predecessors, but not afterwards
performed, they might pretend ignorance, and not be obliged
to give an answer. Tlie ambassadors, therefore, who were
sent into England, used their utmost endeavours to persuade
King Edward of the good inclinations of the King of France
so that he might remain quiet, and not give the least assist-
ance to the Princess of Burgundy: for both the King and
the Queen of England were so desirous of the match with
their daughter, that upon that account, not to mention
several other reasons, the king was willing to wink at these
proceedings, and take no notice of the remonstrances that
were made to him by some of his privy council, who repre-
• See book \v. chap 9. of these Memoirs.
a 4
8 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP HE COMMIXES. [1477
sented to him how prejudicial it would be to the interest of
the whole nation. Besides, he was afraid the marriage might
be broken off, as it began already to be laughed at in Eng-
land, especially by such as were desirous of war.
But to clear up this matter a little more, the king our
master never designed to effect this marriage, by reason of
the disproportion in their years ; for the young lady *, who
is now Queen of England, was much older than the dauphin,
who is now King of France, j" So that a month or two
were spent in sending ambassadors from one court to another ;
and these artifices were made use of purely to gain time,
and hinder the English from declaring war against our
king : for certainly, had it not been in hopes of this mar-
riage, the King of England would never so tamely have
suffered our king to have taken so many towns, without en-
deavouring to have defended them ; and had he declared at
the outset for the young Princess of Burgundy, as our
king was so fearful of bringing anything to a hazard, he
would not have encroached so far upon the dominions of the
House of Burgundy, nor have weakened it so much. My
chief design in narrating these transactions is, to show
the method and conduct of all human affairs, by the read-
ing of which such persons as are employed in the negotia-
tion of great matters, may be instructed how to manage their
business; for though their judgment may be good, yet a
little advice sometimes does no harm. This I have been
assured of, that if the Princess of Burgundy could have
been persuaded to marry Earl Rivers, the Queen of Eng-
land's brother, they would have succoured her with a con-
siderable number of troops ; but that marriage would have
been very unequal, for he was only an earl, and she the
greatest heiress of her time.
Many overtures and bargains were made between the
Kings of England and France; among the rest the King of
France offered, that if b- -*'ould join with him, and come
over in person, and invak~ the Low Countries, which be-
longed to the Princess of Burgundy, his majesty would con-
* The Princess Elizabeth, who afterwards was married to Henry VII.,
by which match the Houses of York and Lancaster were united, was
botn in 1466.
f Charles VIIL was born on the 30th of June, 1470.
1 477-] PRINCESS of burgundy's affairs. 9
gent that the King of England should have all Flanders for
his share, and hold it without homage, and the province of
Brabant besides, in which the King of France would en-
gage to reduce four of the chief towns at his own expense,
and afterwards deliver them up to the King of England.
Besides, he proffered (to lessen his charge in the war), to
pay ten thousand of the King of England's troops for four
months; and to lend him a large train of artillery, horses,
and carriages, for their conveyance, upon condition the
King of England would invade Flanders, whilst he made
war upon Burgundy in another place. The King of Eng-
land's answer was, that the towns in Flanders were large and
strong, and not easy to be kept when they were taken, and that
Brabant was the same ; besides which, the English had no
great inclination to undertake such a war, upon account of
the commerce that was betwixt them and the Low Coun-
tries ; but since the king was so generously inclined, as to
allow him a share in his conquests, he desired he would give
him some of the places he had conquered already in Picardy,
such as Boulogne, and others; upon surrendering up of
which, he would be ready to declare on his side, and would
send an army to his assistance if he would engage to
pay it.
Ch. II. — Of the Conclusion of the Marriage between the Princess of
Burgundy, and Maximilian Duke of Austria, and since Emperor. —
1477.
After this manner (as I have said before), transactions
were managed between the two kings for no other purpose
but to gain time, by which means the Princess of Bur-
gundy's affairs began visibly to decay; for of the few
soldiers that remained after her father's death, many revolted
from her to the king, especially after the Lord des Cordes
had quitted her service, and carried several others along
with him. Some were forced to leave her because their
estates or abodes lay very near or within the towns
which had declared for the king; others left her in hopes
of preferment ; for in that respect no prince was so
10 THE MlCMOlKS OF mtLlP DE COMMIXES. fi477.
noble and generous to his servants as our master. Besides,
commotions and factions discovered themselves daily in the
great towns, and particularly in Ghent, wliich wanted to
have everything its own way, as you have already heard.
Several husbands were proposed to the Princess of Bur-
gundy, and every one was of opinion there was a necessity of
her marrying, to defend those territories that she had left to
her, or (by marrying the dauphin), to recover what she had
lost. Several were entirely for this match, and she was as
earnest for it as anybody, before the letters she had sent by
the Lord of Humbercourt and the chancellor to the king
were betrayed to the ambassadors from Ghent. Some op-
posed the match, and urged the disproportion of their age,
the dauphin being but nine years old, and besides engaged
to the King of England's daughter ; and these suggested the
son of the Duke of Cleves. Others recommended Maxi-
milian, the emperor's son, who is at present King of the
Romans.
The princess herself had conceived an extreme hatred
against the king, ever since he had basely given up her
letters; for she looked upon him as the occasion of the
death of her two principal ministers of state, and of the
dishonour and shame that was put upon her, when the
letters were delivered to her publicly in her council, as you
have heard before. Besides, it was that which gave the
Gantois confidence to banish so many of her servants, and
to remove her mother-in-law and the Lord of Ravestain
from about her, and put her maids of honour into such a
consternation, that not one of them durst open a letter with-
out first showing it to the Gantois, nor speak to their
mistress in a low tone. This made the princess carry her-
self very distantly to the Bishop of Liege, who was of the
House of Bourbon, and a great promoter of this match with
the Dauphin, which certainly would have been very honour-
able and advantageous for the princess, had it not been for
the extreme youth of the dauphin ; but the bishop was
unable to effect his object, so he removed to Liege, and that
affair was laid wholly aside. Without dispute, it would
have been a very difficult matter to have managed that ne-
gotiation to the satisfaction of both parties; and I am of
opinion that whoever had undertaken it, would have gained
1477.] MARRIAGE OF PRINCESS OF BURGDNDY. 11
but little credit by it in the end. However (as I have been
informed), a council was held about it, at which Madame
de Hallewin*, first lady of the bed-chamber to the princess,
was present ; and being asked her opinion about the dauphin,
she replied, " That there was more need of a man than a
boy ; that her mistress was capable of bearing a child, which
was what her dominions wanted more than anything else;""
and this opinion prevailed. Some condemned the lady for
answering so plainly, others commended her, alleging that
what she spoke was purely in relation to marriage, and the
necessity of her lady's dominions, so that now the only talk
was, who should be the person. I am verily persuaded, that
if the king had been inclined to have had her marry the
Count of Angoulesmef, who is now living, she would have
consented to it, so desirous was she to continue her alliance
with France. God, however, thought fit to appoint her
another husband, for reasons unknown perhaps to us, unless
it were, that it might occasion greater wars and confusions
on both sides than could possibly have happened, had she
married the Count of Angoulesme, for by this match the
provinces of Flanders and Brabant sustained great miseries
and afflictions. The Duke of Cleves was at this time in
Ghent with the princess, making friends, and trying all arts
to effect a marriage between the princess and his son, but
she had no inclination to it, for the character of the young
gentleman pleased neither her nor any person about her
court. At last a marriage was again proposed between her
and the emperor's son, the present King of the Romans, of
which there had formerly been some overtures between the
Emperor and Duke Charles, and a match concluded between
them. The emperor had in his custody a letter written by
the young lady, at her father's command, under her own
hand, and a diamond ring of considerable value. The
purport of the letter was to acquaint his imperial majesty,
that, in obedience to her father's commands, she promised to
accomplish the marriage with his son the Duke uf Austria,
* Jeanne de la Clite, Lady of Commines, and wife of the Lord of
Halcwyn. She was a cousin of the author of these Memoirs.
t Charts of Orleans, Count of Angouleme, aud father of Kiuq
Francis L
12 THI-: MEMOiRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1477
in the same form and manner as her father the Duke of
Burgundy should think fit to prescribe.
The emperor sent certain ambassadors* to the princess,
who was at Ghent ; but, upon their arrival at Brussels,
letters were sent to them to remain there, and that com-
missioners should be sent thither to receive and answer their
demands. This was only a contrivance of the Duke of
Cleves, who was extremely displeased at their coming, and
endeavoured to send them back again dissatisfied ; but the
ambassadors continued their journey, for they had intel-
ligence in the princess's court, or, at least, with the Duchess
Dowager of Burgundy, who had been removed from the
princess, as you have heard before, upon oocasion of the
letter. This lady, as I have been since informed, advised
them to proceed with their journey notwithstanding these
letters, gave them instructions how they were to behave
themselves upon their arrival at Ghent, and assured them
that the young princess and the greatest part of her court
were well disposed towards them. Upon this information
the ambassadors advanced, and taking no notice of the
orders which they had received, went directly to Ghent, at
which the Duke of Cleves was highly offended ; but he knew
nothing as yet of the inclination of the ladies. It was re-
solved by the council that the princess should give them
audience, and, after they had delivered their credentials,
should let them know that they were very welcome, that
she would acquaint her council with their desires, and order
them to return her answer ; but that she could not give any
farther answer about it.
The ambassadors being admitted to a public audience,
presented their credentials, and then delivered their embassy,
which was only to remind her Highness that the marriage
had been concluded formally between the emperor and her
father, by her own consent and approbation, as appeared by
the letter under her own hand, which they produced, and
the diamond ring which they said had been sent as a pledge
* According to Molinet (ii. 94.) these ambassadors were " My Lord
Bishop of Mayence, Duke Louis of Bavaria, and a very elegant protho-
not&ry named George Hesler." To this list Lenglet adds a certaiu
doctor, William Mortingle ; and Oliver de la Maiche (ii. 422.) substi*
tutes I he Bishop of Metz for the Bishop of Mayence.
1477. J DUKE MAXIMILIAN AT COLOGNE. 13
of the said marriage. Upon which the ambassadors insisted,
that the young princess should be pleased to consummate
the marriage according to the engagement and promise both
of her father and herself; and then they conjured her to
declare befure the whole assembly whether she had written
the letter or not, and whether she designed to make good
her promise. The young princess, without consulting any,
replied that she had written the letter and sent the ring in
obedience to her father's commands, and that she freely
owned the contents of it. The ambassadors thereupon ex-
pressed their humble acknowledgments, and returned very
joyful to their lodgings.
The Duke of Cleves was extremely dissatisfied with her
answer, as being contrary to what had been agreed on in
council, and he upbraided the young princess for having
acted very indiscreetly in this affair. To which she replied,
" That it was not in her power to do any otherwise, since
it was a thing agreed on long before, and she could not
gainsay it." On hearing her answer, and finding that many
about the princess were of the same opinion, he resolved to
give over his own solicitations, and retire in a few days
into his own country. And thus was the marriage con-
cluded ; and Duke Maximilian came to Cologne, where seve-
ral of the princess's servants went to meet him, and carry
him money, with which, as I have been told, he was but
very slenderly furnished ; for his father wras the stingiest
and most covetous prince, or person, of his time.* The
* The character of this emperor is thus sketched by Mr. Hallam:
" Frederic III. reigned fifty-three years — a longer period than any of
his predecessors ; and hi3 personal character was more insignificant.
With better fortune than could be expected, considering both these cir-
cumstances, he escaped any overt attempt to depose him, though such a
project was sometimes in agitation. He reigned during an interesting
age, full of remarkable events, and big with others of more leading im-
portance. The destruction of the Greek empire, and appearance of the
victorious crescent upon the Danube, gave an unhappy distinction to
the earlier years of his reign, and displayed his mean and pusillanimous
character in circumstances which demanded a hero. At a later season
he was drawn into contentions with France and Burgundy, which ulti-
mately produced a new and more general combination of European
politics. Frederic, always poor, and scarce!" able to protect himself in
Austria from the seditions of his subjects or the inroads of the Kins <H
14 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1177.
Duke of Austria was conducted to Ghent, with about seven
or eight hundred horse in his retinue, and this marriage was
.consummated*, which at first sight brought no great advan-
tage to the subjects of the young princess ; for, instead of his
supporting her, she was forced to supply him with money.
His armies were neither strong enough, nor in a condition 1o
face the king's; besides which, the humour of the house of
Austria was not pleasing to the subjects of the house of
Burgundy, who had been bred up under wealthy princes,
that had lucrative offices and employments to dispose of ;
whose palaces were sumptuous, whose tables were nobly
served, whose dress was magnificent, and wdiose liveries
were pompous and splendid. But the Germans are of quite
a contrary temper ; boorish in their manners, and rude in
their way of living.
It seems to me, that upon good and solid advice, and not
without the particular grace of God, that law was made in
France, whereby women are excluded from the succession,
and no daughter suffered to inherit the crown, to prevent its
falling into the hands of a foreign nation, or prince ; which
the French would hardly endure, nor, indeed, would any
other nation ; for there is no sovereignty whatever but at
length revolves upon the natives. This may be seen in
France, where the English had great possessions for forty
years together, and at this present time have nothing left
of all their conquests but Calais and two little castles f, which
cost them a great deal to keep ; the rest they lost much
more easily than they conquered it ; for they lost more in
Hungary, was yet another founder of his family, and left their fortunes
incomparably more prosperous than at his accession. The marriage of
his son Maximilian with the heiress of Burgundy began that aggrandise-
ment of the house of Austria which Frederic seems to have anticipated.
The Austrian provinces were re-united, either under Frederic, or in the
first years of Maximilian : so that at the close of that period, which we
denominate the middle ages, the German empire, sustained by the patri-
monial dominions of its chief, became again considerable in the scale of
nations, and capable of preserving a balance between the ambitious
monarchies of France and Spain." — Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. i. pp.
449, 450.
* On the 18th of August, 1477. — See Gachard's edition of Ba&ant£'&
Dukes of Burgundy, vol. ii. p. 577.
f Guines ami Ilames.
1477.] CHARACTER OF DUKE MAXIMILIAN. 1"
one day than they had gained in a year. The same tiling
is observable in the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, and
other provinces, of which the French had possession for
many years together ; in all which there is now no monu-
ment of their power remaining but the sepulchres of their
fathers. And, if it were possible for a nation to admit a
foreign prince whose wisdom was great, and his retinue
small and well-regulated, yet they could hardly be pre-
vailed upon to receive him with a great train, or suffer that
he should send for great numbers of his other subjects,
upon pretence of making war upon his neighbours ; because
animosities will certainly arise among them, by reason of
their diversity of manners and disposition, and the violences
the new-comers will commit; for they cannot feel so much
love and affection for the country as those who were born
in it ; especially if they aspire and aim at offices or em-
ployments which belong more properly to the natives. So
that it is very requisite for a wise prince, upon his coming
into a foreign country, to adjust all differences in his towns;
and, if lie be not master of this virtue (which proceeds more
immediately from God than anything else), the rest, though
called virtues, will be of no advantage to him: and, if he
reigns loner, he and all his subjects will find themselves in-
volved in troubles, especially when he comes to be aged,
and his ministers and servants have no hopes of amendment
in his condition.
This aforesaid marriage was performed with great pomp
and solemnity, but affairs were not placed by it in a much
better posture ; for they were both very young. Duke
Maximilian was a person of no great knowledge, both in
consequence of his youth, and of his being in a foreign
country. Besides, his education had been but indifferent,
and not serviceable for the management of great affairs ;
nor, if it had been better, had he a sufficient body of troops
ready to have attempted anything considerable : so that
Ids poor countries were involved in great troubles, which
have continued to this day, and are like to continue. For
which reasons, as I said before, it is a great misfortune
to any country to have to seek a foreign sovereign ; and
God has been very merciful to France in establishing
that law against the inheritance of the crowu by a dau^u-
16 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP Dt COMMINES [1477.
ter.* Aprivate or insignificant family may be much aggran-
dised by it ; but a great kingdom, like ours, will always be
greatly inconvenienced, and incommoded. A few days after
the consummation of this marriage (if not at the very time
of its negotiation), the whole country of Artois was lost. (It
will be sufficient for me to narrate the substance of events,
and if I fail in terms, or the just computation of times, I
hope the reader will excuse me.) The king's affairs went on
prosperously, without any manner of opposition, during the
winter ; only now and then some overture or proposition
was made, which came to nothing ; for both sides being
high in their demands, the war could not but continue.
Duke Maximilian and the Princess of Burgundy had a son
the first year, namely, the Archduke Philipt, who is now
* The rule that a woman was incapable of succeeding to the crown of
France — quod in regno Francice mulier non succedit — was first pro-
claimed when Philip the Long succeeded to the throne in 1317, to the
exclusion of his niece. " French writers," says Mr. Hallam, " almost
unanimously concur in asserting that this exclusion was built upon a
fundamental maxim of their government. No written law, nor even,
as far as I know, the direct testimony of any ancient writer, has been
brought forward to confirm this position. The text of the Salic law,
which has, indeed, given a name to this exclusion of females, can only by
a doubtful and refined analogy be considered as bearing any relation to
the succession of the crown. It is certain, nevertheless, that from the
time of Clovis, no woman had ever reigned in France ; but, on the other
hand, the crown resembled a great fief, and the great fiefs were univer-
sally capable of descending to women. And it was scarcely beyond the
recollection of persons living, that Blanche had been legitimate regent of
France during the minority of St. Louis. For these reasons it may be
fairly inferred that the Salic law, as it was called, was not so fixed a
principle at that time as has been contended. But however this may be,
It received at the accession of Philip the Long a sanction which subse-
quent events more thoroughly confirmed. Philip himself, leaving only
three daughters, his brother Chai-les mounted the throne ; and upon his
death, the rule was so unquestionably established, that his only daughter
was excluded by the Count of Valois, grandson of Philip the Bold." —
Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. i. pp. 43, 44.
f rhilip, Archduke of Austria, was born on the 22nd of July, 1478.
He married Joanna, the second daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of
Spain ; their nuptials were celebrated with great pomp and solemnity in
the city of Lisle, on the 21st of October, 1496 ; and the first fruit of their
-narriage was the celebrated Charles the Fifth. Philip succeeded to tlw
throne of Castile in 1506, and after a reign of two months, he died, jii
the 25th of September, 15 JO.
1477.] DEATH OF THE FRINCESS OF BURGUNDY. 17
reigning: the next year they had a daughter, called Mar-
garet*, who at present is our queen; the third year they had
a son, called Francis, after the name of Francisf Duke of
Bretagne, who was his godfather. The fourth year the
princess died of a fall from her horse, or a fever | ; but it is
certain she had a fall, and some say she was pregnant. Her
death was a great loss to her subjects ; for she was a person
«)f great honour, affability, and generosity to all people, and
she was more beloved and respected by her subjects than
jher husband, as being natural sovereign of their country.
1 She was tenderly attached to her husband, and of singular
reputation for modesty and virtue. Her death happened
in the year 1482. §
In Hainault the king was possessed of two towns, Ques-
noy le Comte and Bouchain, both which he restored ; at
which several persons were highly astonished, knowing his
aversion to any peace, and how desirous he was to take all,
* The Princess Margaret had been affianced in her cradle to Chares
VIII. of France, but their marriage never took place ; and when her
intended husband espoused Anne of Brittany, she was returned to her
native land under circumstances of indignity never to be forgotten or
forgiven by the House of Austria. In 1495 she was betrothed to Prince
John, the heir of the Spanish monarchy, and on her passage to Spain, in
1497, to join her husband, she was nearly shipwrecked. She retained,
however, sufficient composure amid the perils of her situation to indite
her own epitaph, in the form of a pleasant distich :
" Ci gist Margot, la gentil' damoiselle,
Qu'a deux maris, et encore est pucelle!"
Fortunately, her epitaph was not needed, as she reached Spain in safety,
and was married to the Prince of the Asturias on the 3rd of April, 1497.
On the 4th of October, in the same year, her husband died ; and shortly
afterwards Margaret returned to her native land. She subsequently
married the Duke of Savoy, who died without issue in less than three
years ; and Margaret passed the remainder of her life in widowhood
being appointed by her father, the emperor, to the government of the-
Netherlands, which she administered with great ability. She died in
1530.
t This boy, born at Brussels, on the 10th of September, 1481, died on
the 26th of December in the same year.
| She died at Bruges, at about two o'clock in the afternoon, on the
S7th of March, 1481. — Molinet, ii. 302
§ Commines is here in error as to the date ; the year 1482 (old style)
did not begin until the 7th of April, and the princess died on the 27th
of March.
VOL. E. C
18 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1478.
and leave the house of Burgundy nothing ; and my opinion
is, if he could have done it undisturbedly, and destroyed or
divided those territories at his ease, he would not have failed
to have done so. But, as he told me afterwards himself, he
surrendered those towns in Hainault for two reasons ; the
first was, because he thought a prince had more strength
and importance in his own country, where he was anointed
and crowned, than he could have out of his dominions ; and
these towns were not in his territory. The other was, be-
cause tliere had been solemn oaths and great confederacies
between the emperors and the kings of France, not to invade
or usurp upon one another's dominions ; and these above-men-
tioned places belonging to the empire were restored in the year
1 4V 8.* Upon the same account Cambray was delivered up,
or put into a state of neutrality, the king being content to
lose it ; but the truth is, the inhabitants had received him
at first upon those terms.
Ch. III. — How King Louis, by the Management of Charles d'Amboise
his Lieutenant, recovered many Towns in Burgundy, which the Prince
of Orange had persuaded to revolt from him. — 1478.
The war was still carried on in Burgundy ; but the king
could not accomplish his designs, because the Prince of
Orange was chosen by the Burgundians to be their lieute-
nant, and was secretly assisted by the Germans, for the
sake of his money, and not out of love to Duke Maximilian ;
for there was not a man in the whole country that espoused
his interest, at least during the time I speak of. These
Germans were Swiss troops in search of adventure, and the
Swiss are neither friends nor well-wishers to the House
of Austria. The Burgundians had little assistance from
them, although their pay was good ; and no prince could
have paid them better than Duke Sigismond of Austria,
Maximilian's uncle, whose territories lay near, especially the
* The treaty of Treves, by which the king restored all that he held
m Burgundy and Hainault, bears date on the 11th of July, 1478. —
Lehglej-, iii. 540.
1 478. J CHARACTER Of S1GISMUND. 19
county of Ferrete, which he had sold, not many years be-
fore, for ten thousand florins of the Rhine, to Charles Duke
of Burgundy, and had afterwards repossessed himself of it,
without returning the money ; and he keeps it now by force.
Sigismond was never a person of great penetration, nor was
he very just and honourable in his dealings, and from such
allies no great assistance is to be expected. He was of the
number of those princes I mentioned before, who know
nothing of their own affairs but what their ministers of
state are pleased to represent ; and they are always re-
warded for their indolence and supineness in their old age,
as Sigismond was in this case.
During these wars his ministers, who had the sole admi-
nistration of affairs, engaged him on what side they pleased ;
and for the most part he entered into an alliance with the
King of France against his own nephew, and in the end
would have given his hereditary territories (which were
very large) to a foreign family, and disappointed his own
relations (for though he had been twice married, he never
had any issue); but at last, about three years since*, by the
persuasion of another set of ministers, he conveyed all his
estates to his nephew Maximilian (at present King of the
Romans)f, reserving only a pension of about a third part
of the revenue, without any authority or power ; but, as
I have been informed, he has often repented of it since;
and if the story be not true, it is at least very proba-
ble. And such is the fate of princes who live so carelessly,
and like beasts; and who certainly are most highly to be
condemned, upon account of the great responsibility and
duty that God has laid upon them in this world. These
errors and imprudent actions are not so much to be laid to
the charge of weak and stupid princes, as of those who are
endued with a sufficient share of sense and understanding,
and yet squander away all their time in pleasure and folly ;
such princes have no claim on our compassion when any
misfortune befals them. And, on the other side, those who
divide their time according to their age, sometimes in
* Sigismund transferred his hereditary estates to his nephew, the Arch,
duke Maximilian, in 1492.
t Maximilian was elected KiDg of the Romans on the 16th February
U86.
o a
20 THE MEMOIRS OF FIIILIP DE COMMINFS. [1478.
council, and sometimes in festivities and diversions, are
much to be commended ; and those subjects are happy who
nave such princes to rule over them.
The war in Burgundy was carried on for some time by
help of the little assistance they received from the Germans :
yet the king's forces were too powerful for them ; for the
Burgundians wanted money, and their garrisons were cor-
rupted. The Lord of Craon, who was the king's lieutenant
in those parts, besieged Dole*, the chief town in the county
of Burgundy ; which he presumed he should quickly make
himself master of, upon account of the weakness of the
garrison"]' : but his confidence proved much to his disadvan-
tage ; for, being surprised by a sudden sally, he lost some few
of his men, and a great part of his cannon ; which so
highly raised the king's displeasure against him, that, being
vexed at this unfortunate action, he began to think of send-
ing a new governor into the county of Burgundy, not only
upon account of this misfortune, but for the great and ex-
cessive sums of money which had been exacted in those parts.
However, before the Lord of Craon laid down the command
of the army, he engaged and defeated a party of Germans
and Burgundians^, in which action Monsieur de Chasteau-
* Dole, formerly the capital of Franche-Comte, is a very ancient
town in the department of Jura, in France. It stands on the right
bank of the Doubs, and is well placed for trade on the canal that
joins the Rhone and Rhine. It is pleasantly situated on the £rcst and
slope of a hill ; the streets are rather steep, but well built, and orna-
mented with fountains ; and the neighbourhood is prettily laid out in
gardens, vineyards, and promenades. A ruined aqueduct and amphi-
theatre, and some remains of the old Roman road from Lyons to the
Rhine, mark the place as having been a Roman station. After its cap-
ture by the French, as related in the text, it sustained several remark-
able sieges. In 1530, it was strongly fortified by the Emperor Charles V.,
into whose hands it had come with the rest of Franche-Comte. In
1636 it was fiercely, but ineffectually, besieged by the Prince of Conde;
but Louis XIV. took it in 1668, and again in 1674, when he demolished
the fortifications. At length, by the treaty of Nimeguen, the town,
together with the whole of Franche-Comte, was made over to France.
•f The chief commander in Dole was the Lord of Montballon ; with
him was a Knight of Berne, with about 900 Swiss ; the garrison con-
sisted in all of about 2000 fighting men. In their sally, they slew 800
or 900 of the French. — Molinet, ii. 49.
+ On the 15th of June, 1478.
1478.] THE SWISS CONFEDERATION. 21
guyon * (the greatest lord in Burgundy) was taken pri-
soner; but besides that, nothing of importance was done
that day. I speak only by hear-say ; though, if we may be-
lieve report, the Lord of Craon behaved himself with a great
deal of valour and intrepidity in that engagement.
As I was saying, the king, for the reasons above-men-
tioned, resolved to put a new governor into the county of
Burgundy ; but not to meddle with the profits or advan-
tages of the Lord of Craon's places f; he only deprived him
of his guards, and left him but six men-at-arms, and a dozen
archers to attend him. The Lord of Craon was grown very
unwieldy, and retired well satisfied to his country-seat,
where he lived in great ease and plenty. The king put into
his post the Lord Charles of Amboise, Lord of Chaumont, a
valiant, discreet, and diligent officer, who at once endeavoured
to dissuade the Germans from assisting the Burgundians,
and to induce them to enter into the king's service (not that
he valued th/eir service, but in order to facilitate his conquest
Df the rest of that country.) To this purpose the king sent
to the Germans or Swiss (whom he styled Messieurs des
Ligues), and offered them very handsome terms: first, a
pension of twenty thousand francs, to be paid annually to
their four chief towns, Berne, Lucerne, Zurich, and I sup-
pose Fribourg, with their three cantons (or villages upon the
mountains) Schwitz, which now gives name to the whole
country, Soleure and Unterwald : secondly, twenty thou-
sand francs per annum to particular persons, whose assist-
ance he used in his negotiations ; and he also made himself
one of their burgesses, and their principal ally, and desired
it might be declared in writing; but they made some diffi-
culty of consenting to that, because, from time immemorial,
the Duke of Savoy had been their principal ally; yet at
length they consented, and promised to furnish the king with
a body of six thousand men, to be employed continually in
his service, upon condition that he should pay to each man
• Hugh de Chalon, son of William Prince of Orange.
f This Lord de Craon was at that time Governor of Ohampagn"
Brie, Burgundy, and Touraine : he was also in possession of the govern
ment of several cities in France, and chief chamberlain to the king
besides enjoying the whole revenue of the barony of Craon in Anjoii
which was his own inheritance.
C 3
22 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMUTES. [1478.
four Rhine florins and a half every month ; and that number
of Swiss were retained in the king's service till his death.
A poor prince could not have managed this affair, which
turned so much to the king's advantage at that time ; though
I am of opinion, in the end it will be a prejudice to the
Swiss ; for they are now so used to money (which waa
scarce with them before), especially gold, that it was like to
have raised a civil war among them. Otherwise, nothing
was capable of ruining or doing them any mischief; for
their country is so poor and mountainous, and the inhabit-
ants of such a martial temper, that few or none of the neigh-
bouring princes could think it worth their while to endea-
vour to conquer them. When these treaties were agreed
on, and all the Swiss in Burgundy had entered into the
king's service, the Burgundian power was utterly broken
and destroyed ; and to bring matters to a conclusion, the
governor, Monsieur de Chaumont, after performing seve-
ral notable exploits, besieged Rochefort *, a castle near Dole,
commanded by Monsieur de Vaudray, and took it by capitu-
lation. He also besieged Dole (where, as I said before,
his predecessor had been repulsed), and took it by storm.
The newly enlisted Swiss designed to have got in and de-
fended it ; but a body of Frank archers getting in amongst
them (not with any suspicion of their design, but merely
from a desire of plunder), when they were entered, all of
them fell to pillaging, and the town was burnt and de-
stroyed.
Not long after he besieged Aussonef , a very strong town ;
but he held intelligence with the garrison, and wrote to the
kins for offices for his friends before investing the town ;
which were readily granted. I was not upon the spot my-
self, yet I was well informed of what was done ; both by the
reports which were made to the king, and the letters which
were sent to him, and which I saw, as I was employed by the
king to return answers to many of them. Aussone had but
a small garrison in it, and the chief officers being in treaty
with the governor, in five or six days the place was surren-
* Rochefort, in the department of Jura, about four miles from Dole.
f Auxonne, a fortified town on the Saone, eighteen miles from Dijon ;
celebrated for its fine bridge and causeway. It surrendered to the king
on the 4th of June, 1479.
1478.] SUBJUGATION OK EUROCNDT. 23
dered ; so that there remained nothing in all Burgundy for
the king to take possession of, but three or four castles upon
the mountains, to wit, Jou* and others; and he had the
obedience of Bezancont, which is an imperial town, not at
all, or very slightly, subject to the county of Burgundy ; but,
being seated as it were in the middle of it, paying a sort of
obedience to the prince of that country. The governor took
possession of the town, and the inhabitants having paid him
the homage which they were accustomed to pay to the
princes who formerly had possession of Burgundy, he im-
mediately quitted it. After this expeditious manner was
the whole province of Burgundy subdued; and the king
watched the business very closely, fearing the governor de-
sired some place might still hold out, in order to continue
longer in his command, and not to be moved into another
country to serve the king upon some other expedition : for
Burgundy is a plentiful country, and he managed it as if it
had been his own inheritance, so that the Lord of Chaumont,
as well as the Lord of Craon, made his fortune there.
This province for some time continued in peace, under the ad-
ministration of the Lord of Chaumont ; but afterwards several
towns rebelled, as BeauneJ, Semur§, Verdun||, and others.
(I was then present, having been sent thither by the king
with the pensioners of his household. This was the first
time the pensioners had any officer to command them, and
since then they have never been without one.) Which towns
* Joux, a strong fortress on a high mountain in the department of
Doubs, was eventually surrendered to the king by the treachery of its
governor, who sold it to Louis XL for 14,000 crowns. In later times,
Joux has acquired celebrity as the prison of Fouquet, of Mirabeau, and
of Toussaint l'Ouverture.
f Besancon, now the chief town of the department of Doubs, is a very
ancient city. Julius Caesar mentions it as one of the largest and strongest
cities of Gaul ; it was then the capital of the Sequani. In 456 it was
d ivastated by the Burgundians, and in 937 by the Hungarians. From
1184 to 1664 it was an imperial city ; but in 1668 it was captured by
Louis XIV., and it has since belonged to France.
X Beaune, an old Burgundian town in the department of Cote-d'Or,
23 miles from Dijon. It is now chiefly celebrated for its wines.
§ Semur, a considerable town in the department of Cote-d'Or, built on
a granite rock on the left bank of the Arrnancon, 45 miles west ol
Dijon.
] Verdun-sur-Saone, in the department of Saone-et-Loire.
c 4
21 THfc MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. |"J 478
were reduced by the wisdom and conduct of our general,
and the indiscretion of the enemy. By this one may plainly
gee the vast difference there is between men ; which proceeds
from the grace of God, who gives wise ministers of state to
that nation He designs to support, and imparts to the prince
that governs it wisdom to choose them ; and He has made,
and does still make it appear, that in all things He will
maintain our monarchy, not only in the person of our late
master, but of our present king. Those who lost these
places the second time were strong enough to have defended
them, had they assembled their forces sufficiently soon, and
thrown them into the towns : but they gave the governor
leisure to draw his troops together; which they ought not to
have done, for, having intelligence of his strength, and
knowing the country was entirely in his interest, they ought
to have thrown themselves into Beaune; which was a strong
town, and more defensible than the rest.
The very day on which the governor marched out to in-
vest a little town called Verdun, upon information of their
weak condition, the Burgundians entered it, in their march
to Beaune. They were in all, both horse and foot, six hun-
dred choice men out of the county of Ferrete, commanded
by several good Burgundian officers, of whom Simon de
Quingey was one. They halted at a time when they might
have got into Beaune ; which, if they had done, the place had
been almost impregnable ; but for want of good counsel, they
stayed a night too long, were besieged in Verdun, and taken
by storm : and after that, Beaune was reduced, and all the
rest ; the loss of which towns the Burgundians could never
recover. 1 was at this time with the king's pensioners (as I
said before) in Burgundy ; from whence I was summoned by
the king, upon an information he had received that I had
favoured certain of the citizens at Dijon about the quartering
of soldiers. This charge, with other little suspicions, was
the cause why he sent me away very suddenly to Florence.*
* The Cardinal of Pavia wrote to the Pope : " I know that there i9
coming to us, on the part of the King of France, an ambassador of high
esteem in Gaul, with a mission of overweening pride. He is charged to
threaten us with the withdrawal of the allegiance of the French, and
with an appeal to a council, if we do not revoke the censures pronounced
against the Florentines ; if those who murdered Giuliano de' Medici,
1478.]
COMMENES GOES INTO IT ALT. 25
I obeyed him, as in duty bound, and, upon the receipt of his
letters set out immediately for Italy.
Ch. IV. — How the Lord of Argenton was sent to Florence during the
Wars in Burgundy, and how he received Homage of the Duke of
Milan, in the King's Name, for the Duchy of Genoa. — 1478.
1 The design of my going into Italy was, to adjust a differ-
'ence between two illustrious families, very eminent in those
days. One was the family of the Medicis, the other of the
Pacistj which last being supported by the Popef, and
Ferrarid King of Naples J, endeavoured to cut off Laurence
and those even who abetted his murder, are not punished ; and, finally,
if we do not abandon the war which we have just commenced." — Sis-
mondi, xi. 110.
* The history of the Medici family is too well known to require reca-
pitulation in this place. The family of the Fazzi was one of the noblest
and most respectable in Florence: numerous in its members, and pos-
sessed of great wealth and influence. Of three brothers, two of whom
had filled the office of gonfaloniere, only one was living at the period
referred to in the text; and this man, Giacopo de' Fazzi, who was re-
garded as the chief of the family, though far advanced in years, was, if
we may credit the account of Folitiano, an unprincipled libertine, who
having, by gaming and intemperance, dissipated his paternal property,
sought an opportunity of averting or concealing his own ruin in that of
the republic. For a full account of the conspiracy of the Pazzi, see
Roscoe's Life of Lorenzo de Medici, in Bohn's Standard Library.
f Sixtus iV.,'previously called Francesco da Savona, or Delia Rovere,
was the son of a fisherman. By his talents he became general of the
Franciscan order, and afterwards Cardinal. He was elected Pope on the
9th of August, 1471. "He was the first," says Machiavelli, "who be-
gan to show how far a pope might go, and how much that which was
previously regarded as sinful lost its iniquity when committed by a
pontiff." He died on the 13th of August, 1484, in the seventy-first year
of his age.
% Ferdinand I., King of Naples, succeeded to the throne on the death
of his father in 1458. His claim was contested by John of Anjon, sup-
ported by many of the chief barons of the kingdom; but Ferdinand sub-
dued them, and reigned for thirty years, after the discomfiture of his
competitor, with success and ability. His character was, however, dark
and vindictive, and his government was m irked by a degree of ill-faitb
hi, well as tyranny towards his subjects that rendered "liiin deserved Ij
odious He died in 1494
26 THE MEMOIRS OF THILIP DE COMMUTES. [1478,
de Medicis*, and all his adherents. They failed in their
design upon Laurence de Medicis; but they slew his brother
Julian f in tlie great church in Florence X '■> and with him one
Franquein Noli § , a servant of the house of Medicis, who
threw himself before Julian in hopes to have saved him.
Laurence was severely wounded || , but made his retreat into
the vestry of the church, whose doors were of copper, and
had been given to the church by his father.^f A servant**,
whom he had delivered out of prison only two days before,
did him good service, and received several wounds which
* Lorenzo de' Medici, surnamed the Magnificent. For a full account
of this illustrious man, no less celebrated as a politician than as an
author and patron of science and art, see his Life, by Mr. Roscoe, in
Bohn's Standard Library.
t Giuliano de' Medici, a younger brother of Lorenzo, was born in the
year 1453. Between him and his illustrious brother there subsisted a
warm and uninterrupted affection. Educated under the same roof,
they had always participated in the same studies and amusements.
Giuliano was well acquainted with the learned languages ; he delighted
in music and in poetry, particularly in that of his native tongue, which
he cultivated with success ; and, by his generosity and urbanity, he
gained, in a great degree, the affections of the populace. At the death
of his father he was associated with his brother Lorenzo in the govern-
ment of Florence, and he therefore incurred the animosity of the Pazzi.
He was assassinated on Sunday, the 26th of August, 1478.
t In the Church of Santa Reparata at Florence, since called Santa
Maria del Fiore.— Machiavelli, p. 359. (Bohn's Standard Library
edition.)
§ Francesco Nori, a most intimate friend of the Medici. — Machia-
velli, p. 360.
|| The assassination of Lorenzo de' Medici had been committed, in the
first instance, to Giovan Battista Montesecco, a distinguished condot-
tiere in the service of the Pope; and he had willingly undertaken the
office, whilst he understood that it was to be executed in a private
dwelling; but he shrank from the idea of polluting the house of God
with murder. Two ecclesiastics — Stefano da Bagnone, an apostolic
scribe, and Antonio Maffei, a priest of Volterra — were therefore selected
for the commission of the bloody deed. Maffei aimed a blow at Lorenzo's
throat, which took effect behind his neck, and only roused him to defend
himself. Drawing his sword, he drove off his assailants, and made
good his retreat to the sacristy. — See Roscoe's Lorenzo dt Medici, pp.
142 — 144.
% Piero de' Medici, who died in 1472.
** This was probably Francesco Nori. — Roscoe, pp. 144. 501. Sis-
raondi (xi. 97.) mentions two esquires, Andrea and Lorenzo Cavalcanti,
M having assisted Lorenzo de' Medici to beat off his assailants.
1478.] CONSPIRACY OF THE PAZZI. 27
were aimed at Laurence. This assassination was committed
at the time of high mass; and the moment appointed for its
execution was when the officiating priest should begin the
Sanctus. But it fell out otherwise than was designed; for,
supposing all sure, some of the conspirators* ran to the
palace to kill the senators who were there! (which senate,
consisting of about nine persons, has the whole administra-
tion of the affairs of that city, and is changed every three
months) ;' but they were ill supported, and having run up-
stairs into the palace, somebody shut one of the doors behind
them ; so that when they were got up, there were not above
four or five of them, and those in such a terrible consterna-
tion, that they knew not what to say or do.
The senators and their servants that attended them, per-
ceiving the astonishment of the conspirators, looked out of
the windows, saw all the town in confusion, and heard
Signor James de Pacis -f and his accomplices crying out in
the palace-yard, " Liberia ! Liberia ! Popolo ! Popolo ! "
thinking by this means to have stirred up the people to take
their part ; but they were mightily mistaken, for the mob
kept themselves very quiet; upon which James de Pacis and
his adherents, despairing of success, betook themselves to
flight. The governors and magistrates of the city, who
were then in the palace, finding how matters went, imme-
* Francesco Salviati, Archbishop of Pisa, with about thirty followers.
— Machiavelli, p. 360.
f Giacopo de' Pazzi was the head of the family of that name, and at
the time of this conspiracy was far advanced in years. He escaped
from the city during the tumult; but on the following day he was made
prisoner by the peasants of liomagna, who, regardless of his entreaties
to put him to death, brought him to Florence, and delivered him up to
the magistrates. He was immediately hanged from the palace windows;
but, in consideration of his rank, his relatives were allowed to inter his
body in the church of Santa Crocc. " But," says Machiavelli (p. 363), " as
if to mark the event by some extraordinary circumstance, after having
been laid in the tomb of his ancestors, he was disinterred like an ex-
communicated person, and thrown into a hole outside the city walls:
from this grave he was taken, and with the halter in which he had been
hanged, his body was dragged naked through the city, and, as if unfit
for sepulture on earth, was thrown by the populace into the Arno, whose
waters were then very high." Such was the fate of a man who had en-
joyed the highest honours of the republic, and for his services to the
ktate had been rewarded with the privileges of equestrian rani.
28 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMTNES. [1478.
diately seized upon the five or six who had got up into the
room, with a design to murder them and so get command
over the city, and caused them to he hanged at the bars of
the palace windows ; and among them was the Archbishop of
Pisa.* The senators finding the people unanimously declare
for the House of Medicis, sent immediately to all the passes
upon the road, to stop and apprehend all persons that were
found flying, and to bring them before the senate. James de
Pacis was presently apprehended, and with him an officer j
of the Pope's, who had the command of a brigade of men-at-
arms under the Count Hieronymo J, who was concerned in
the plot. Pacis and his accomplices were hanged from the
windows, but the Pope's officer had the favour of being be-
headed. Several more were discovered in the town (and
amongst them Francisco de Pacis §), and all were hanged
* Francesco Salviati was appointed Archbishop of Pisa by Pope Six-
tus IV., in opposition to the wishes of the Signory of Florence, who had
for some time endeavoured to prevent him from exercising his episcopal
functions. Hence his hostility to the Medici family. He appears to
have been totally unfit for his high preferment ; and his last moments,
if ve may credit Politiano, were marked by a singular instance of fero-
city. Being suspended close to Francesco de' Pazzi, he seized the
naked body with his teeth, and relaxed not his hold even in the agony
of dea'h. — Roscoe, pp. 141. 146.
f Giovanni Battista de Montesecco. a distinguished captain of Con-
dottieri in the service of Pope Sixtus IV.
f. Girolamo Riario was either the son or nephew of Pope Sixtus IV.
He was dignified by the Pontiff with the appellation of count : and that
it might not to be an empty title, 40,000 ducats were paid out of the
papal exchequer for the principality of Imola, which was at once con-
ferred on him, and to which was afterwards added the dominion of
Forli. This dilapidation of the patrimony of the Church to aggrandise
the relatives of the Pope was one of the most scandalous examples of
what was afterwards called the nepotism of the Court of Rome. Giro-
lamo Riario married a natural daughter of Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of
Milan ; and was assassinated by three of his subjects, over whom he
had shamefully tyrannised, on the 14th of April, 1488.
§ Francesco de' Pazzi, a nephew of Giacopo, seems to have been the
leader in this conspiracy. He it was who gave the death-stroke to Giu-
liano de' Medici ; and such was the violence of his rage that, in striking
his victim, he wounded himself severely in the thigh. He then hastened
to his house, and endeavoured to mount his horse, in order to ride
through the city, and call the people to arms ; but he found himself
unable to do so, from the nature of his wound, and the great effusion
of blood it had caused. Soon after he was dragged from his bed
by the infuriated populace, and longed from the windows of the
1478.] COMM1NES ARRIVES AT FLORENCE. 29
immediately; so that in the whole I think there were ahout
fourteen or fifteen persons of quality hanged, besides servants
who were killed in the town.*
Not long after this occurrence I arrived at Florence, in
quality of an agent for the king, having made no stay since
1 left Burgundy, unless it were two or three days with the
Duchess of Savoy, our king's sister, who received me very
graciously | From thence I proceeded to Milan, where I
continued two or three days likewise, to solicit supplies for
the Florentines, with whom at that time the Milanese were
in alliance. The Milanese granted them very freely, because
it was their duty, as well as the king's request, and sent
them immediately a reinforcement of three hundred men-at-
arms, and afterwards a greater number. In short, the Pope,
immediately upon hearing of this tumult in Florence, ex-
communicated the Florentines }, and caused his own army,
in conjunction with that of the King of Naples, to march
against them. The Neapolitan army was numerous, made a
fine appearance, and had abundance of brave soldiers in it.
They first besieged Castellina §, not far from Sienna, and took
it, witli several other places ; so that it was a great chance
that the Florentines were not utterly ruined, for they had
enjoyed a long peace, and were not conscious of their danger.
Laurence de Medicis, who was the chief man of that city,
was but young ||, and managed by persons of his own years;
yet his judgment was of great authority among them. They
had but few officers, and their army was but small. The
palace. His brother Renato was also hanged ; and the rest of this de-
voted family were condemned either to imprisonment or exile ; with
the single exception of Guglielmo de' Pazzi, who was connected by
marriage with the Medici family, and spared accordingly.
« " The executioner," says Sismondi, " did not rest till 200 Floren-
tines had perished in consequence of the conspiracy of the Pazzi. All
those who had any relation of blood or connection of friendship with
them, all those who had shown any opposition to the government, were
torn from their houses, dragged through the streets, and put to death."
f The duchess granted liim a contingent of 300 men-at-arms, to as-
sist the Florentines against the Pope. — Guichenon, ii. 145.
% The bull of excommunication was dated at Rome, on the 1st of June
1478.
§ La Castellina, a fortress about eight mdes from Sienna.
1 Lorenzo de' Medici was thirty years old at th;i time • he was born
on the 1st of January. 1448.
SO THE MEMOIRS OP PHTLTP I>E OOMMINES. [1478.
armies of the Pope and King of Naples were commanded in
chief by the Duke of Urbin *, a wise man and a brave com-
mander ; with him there were likewise the Lord Robert
d'Arimini f (who has since become a great man), the Lord
* Federigo da Montefeltro, second Duke of Urbino, succeeded his
natural brother Oddantonio, in 1444. His character is thus sketched
by a writer in the Edinburgh Review (xciv. 348.) : " He was a man for
whom every human being that becomes acquainted with him is bound
to express his love and reverence. He himself was of a loving, a re-
verencing, and a thankful nature. He was a soldier, yet a lover of
books ; religious, but not bigoted ; energetic, but superior to anger ;
severely bred, yet cheerful ; voluptuous by temperament, but not by
habit ; a prince at once magnificent and paternal ; a right gentleman
and fellow-creature; and, above all, a man true to his word in an age
of liars. He had the good fortune to receive an excellent education,
as far as one person could give it. His master understood the training
both of mind and body. At eight years of age he was affianced, and at
fifteen he was married. He studied the art of *var under Piccinino and
St'orza, whose different systems of daring and caution he is said to have
combined. He had long and successful contests with Sigismund Mala-
testa, his neighbour, a ferocious dilettante, who committed murders,
and struck medals. He had also the honour of being excommunicated
by Pope Eugene the Fourth for adhering to an unfortunate friend ; be-
came successively Captain-General of the Florentines, of the Duke of
Milan, and of the King of Naples ; the last of whom he delighted by his
honesty : was then general hi the service of the Church ; refused to
break his word with the most faithless of his enemies ; built a splendid
palace and library, and kept a stately court, which did not hinder him
from mixing in the pleasantest manner with his people; was chosen
commander of the first National Confederation, prototype of the mea-
sure so often since desired by Italians, and so invariably nullified by
their divisions ; helped to procure for his country, nevertheless, twenty-
eight years of comparative tranquillity; attended with pomp the convo-
cation of Pope Sixtus IV., who invested him with the dukedom, and
married a nephew to his daughter ; received the order of the Garter
from our Edward IV., which, though truly fit for such a mirror of
knighthood, was bestowed with an eye to his good offices with the Pope;
indulged his lovj of scholarship and philosophy, and patronised art and
science ; rejected with scorn and horror a proposal to aid the Roman
Court in the r.ssassination of Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother, yet
thought it no dishonour to conceal the plot from its objects, and to con-
duct troops against them for his papal employer; found himself, never-
theless, in a short time fighting on the side of Lorenzo against papal en-
croachment; and on the 10th of September, in the year 1482, died of a
fever, caught during a campaign, and rendered fatal by his refusal to
quit his post." — See Dennistoun's Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino.
i Roberto Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, one of the most celebrated
feaiong the condottieri captains of this period.
1478.] COMMINES RETURNS TO FRANCE. 31
Constantine de Pesaro *, and several other officers, with two
of the king's sons (that is, the Duke of Calabria f, and Don
Frederick J, botli of them still living), and many other
persons of quality. They took all places which they besieged,
but not with the same expedition as we do in France, for
they were not so well skilled in the art of taking or defend-
ing a town ; but for encamping and supplying their army
with provisions, and providing all things necessary for a
campaign, they understood that better than we do. The king's
favourable inclination toward them was in some measure
serviceable to them ; but not so much as I could have wished,
for I had no army with which to reinforce them beyond my
own retinue. I stayed in Florence and its territories a whole
year, and was nobly treated at their expense all the while,
and with more civility at last than at first § ; but being re-
called by the king, I returned home. At Milan I received
homage of John Galeas ||, Duke of Milan, for the duchy of
Genoa ; which homage was performed to me for my master
by the duke's mother, in her son's name. After which I re-
turned to my master, who received me very graciously, and
admitted me more freely to his affairs than ever before, per-
mitting me to lie with him, though I was unworthy of that
favour, and many persons were more deserving of such a
familiarity than myself. But he was so discreet and saga-
cious a prince, that no minister of his could possibly mis-
* Costanzio Sforza, Prince of Pesaro, another eminent condottiere,
nephew of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan.
f Alphonso II , Duke of Calabria, succeeded his father on the throne
in May, 1494. On the 23rd of January, 1495, he was forced to abdi-
cate; and he died on the 19th of November following.
% Frederic, Prince of Tarento, became King of Naples in 1496, and
died on the 9th of November, 1504.
§ It is not surprising that Commines was pleased at his treatment
by the Florentines, when he took leave of them ; for Ammirato (iii.
126 ) informs us that, at his departure, the Signory presented him with
fifty -two pounds weight of wrought silver for the use of his table.
|| Giovanni Galeazzo Maria Sforza became Duke of Milan on the
death of his father in 1476. In 1488 he married Isabella, grand-
daughter of Ferdinand, King of Naples. He died on the 22nd of Octo-
ber, 1494, at the age of twenty-five ; and the popular belief of the
time was that he was poisoned by his uncle. At the period referred to
in the text the youn^ Duke was only nine years old, and it was on ihii
account that his mother did homage for him.
32 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1479.
carry in any negotiation in which he was employed, pro-
vided he acted directly according to his master's instructions,
and added nothing of his own.
Ch. V. -Of the Loid of Argenton's Return out of Italy into France,
and of the Battle of Guinegaste. — 1479.
Upon my return from Italy I found the king our master
somewhat aged, and inclined to be sickly; yet not so much
as to neglect his affairs, which he managed himself, with
great prudence. He was still engaged in his wars in Picardy,
upon which his heart was mightily set, and the enemy would
have been no less fond of that country, if they could have
got it into their possession. The Duke of Austria (at pre-
sent King of the Romans) having that year the Flemings at
his command, invested Therouenne* ; upon which the Lord
des Cordes, the king's lieutenant in Picardy, assembled all
the forces that were in that province, and in the frontier
towns, together with eight thousand Frank archers, and
marched to relieve it. Upon news of his approach, the
Duke of Austria raised the siege, and, advancing to meet
him, they came to an engagement at a place called G-uine-
gaste.f The duke had twenty thousand men or more out of
the country of Flanders, besides some few Germans and
about three hundred English, under the command of Sir
Thomas AbriganJ, an English knight, who had been in the
service of Charles Duke of Burgundy. The king's cavalry,
who were much more numerous than the duke's, broke them
immediately, and drove them and their commander, the lord
Philip of Ravestain, as far as Aire.§ The duke took part in
the battle with his infantry. || In the king's army there were
* On Thursday, July 29, 1479. — Molinet, ii. 200.
f Guinegatte, a small village in the department of the Pas-de-Calais.
The battle was fought on the 7th August, 1479. A detailed account
of it will be found in Molinet (ii. 220.). The battle of the Spurs was
fought on the same ground between the English aud the French in
1513. — See Home, ii. 589.
J Elsewhere called Thomas D' Orican or D'Aurican.
§ Aire, a town on the Lys, in the department of the Pas-de-Calais.
|| Molinet tells several stories of the duke's prowess in the fight He
lays that " he charged a man ai-arms so violently that he broke hit
147y.] BATTLE OF GUINEGASTE. 33
about eleven hundred men-at-arms of his standing forces.
They did not all follow the chase, but the Lord des Cordes,
who commanded in chief, pursued, and Monsieur de Torcy
with him ; but though they behaved themselves very bravely,
yet it is not the duty of any commanding officer to follow the
pursuit. Some of the van-guard and rear-guard retreated,
under pretence of defending their own towns ; others fled
downright. The duke's infantry kept their ground, though
they were vigorously attacked ; but they had with them on
foot fully two hundred gentlemen, all good officers and brave
men, to lead them ; and among these were the Count de Ro-
mont, a son of the house of Savoy, the Count of Nassau *, and
several others, who are still living The bravery and con-
duct of these gentlemen kept the whole body together, which
was very marvellous, after they had witnessed the defeat of
their cavalry. The king's Frank archers fell to plundering
the duke's waggons, and all that attended them, sucli as sutlers
and others ; which being observed, some of the duke's forces
attacked them, and cut off a great number of them. On the
duke's side the slaughter was greater, and more prisoners
were taken than on the king's side, but he remained master
of the field of battle ; and I am of opinion, that if he had
marched back immediately to Therouenne, he would not have
met with the least opposition either there or at Arras : yet
he durst not venture to make the attempt, which proved
highly to his disadvantage ; but in such cases no one knows
always what measures are best to be taken ; and indeed the
duke had some reason to fear. I speak of this battle only
by hearsay, for I was not present at it ; but to continue my
discourse, I found it necessary to mention it.
I was with the king when he received the news of this
defeat ; he was extremely concerned at it, for he had not
been used to lose, but had been so successful in all his enter-
prises, that it seemed as if everything turned out according
to his pleasure. Indeed, to speak truth, his judgment and
lance in three pieces ; after which he knocked down a Frank archer with
a stick which he had in his hand ; and, finally, he took prisoner a native
of Brittany named Alexander."
* Engelbert, Count of Nassau and Vianden, Knight of the Golden
Fleece, and Governor of Brabant. He was chief chamberlain to Duka
Maximilian. lie died in 1 504.
VOL. 11- D
14 THE MEMOIRS OF 1'HILiP DE COMMINKS. [1479
penetration in state affairs contributed very much to his
success: for be would never risk anything, and always en-
deavoured to avoid a battle ; nor was this fought by any
positive orders from him. His armies were always so
numerous, that few princes were able to cope with him, and
he had a larger train of artillery than any of his predecessors.
His method was to assemble his troops on a sudden, and
attack those places that were ill provided and slenderly
fortified ; and when he had taken them, he immediately put
into them such a strong garrison, with so much artillery,
that it was almost impossible to retake them ; and if there
were any officer in the town able and willing to betray it for
money, he was sure to have the king for a customer, and
needed not to be afraid to demand an extravagant sum ; for,
however exorbitant, his majesty would certainly have paid
it rather than venture a battle, or undertake a siege. He
was mightily alarmed at the first news of this battle, suppos-
ing he had lost all, and that they durst not tell him the whole
truth ; for he was aware that, had it been an absolute defeat,
all that he had got from the house of Burgundy in those
marches and elsewhere, would certainly have been lost, or at
least placed in very great danger. However, as soon as he
Avas informed of the whole truth, he was better satisfied, but
gave orders that, for the future, no battle should be fought
without his knowledge and consent ; and so he was recon-
ciled to the Lord des Cordes.
From this very hour the king resolved to make a treaty of
peace with the Duke of Austria, but to manage the whole
negotiation purely to his own advantage; and so to curb the
duke by means of his own subjects (who, he knew, were
desirous to clip the wings of his authority), that it should
never again be in his power to disturb or injure him. He
was likewise very desirous to make some new regulations in
the affairs of his own kingdom, particularly in regard to
delays in processes of law, in order thereby to control the
court of parliament ; not to diminish their number or autho-
rity; but there were many things which occasioned his
hatred against them. He was also desirous to establish in
his kingdom one general custom as to weights and measures ;
and that all the laws should he written in French, in one
book, 60 as to prevent the frauds and prevarications of th«
1479-] TREATY WITH THE DUKE Ov AUSTRIA. 33
lawyers, which are greater in France than in any other nation
in Europe, as the nobility have often experienced to their
cost. And, doubtless, had God graciously permitted him to
live five or six years longer, without being too much affected
by disease, he would have done much good to his kingdom;
and it was but reasonable he should do so, for he had op-
pressed and tyrannised over his subjects more than all his
predecessors. But no man's authority or remonstrance could
persuade him; it must have come of his own accord, as cer-
tainly it Would, if God had not afflicted him with sickness :
wherefore it is best to do good while we have time and God
gives us health.
The treaty which the king designed to make with the
Duke of Austria, his duchess, and their dominions, was, by
the mediation of the Gantois, to make a match between his
son the Dauphin (who is now our king) and the daughter
of the duke and duchess, in consideration of which they
should give him the counties of Burgundy, Auxerroi-:,
Maconnois, and Chai olois ; and in exchange he would restore
to them the province of Artois, retaining only the city of
Arras*, in the same posture of defence as he had put it iu^
for the town was of no importance since the new fortifica-
tions had been added to the city. Before Arras fell into the
king's hands, the town was much stronger than the city,
with a large ditch and thick walls between them ; but now
the city was in a much better posture of defence, and was
held of the king by the bishop of the place ; contrary to the
practice of the Dukes of Burgundy (at least for above a
hundred years), who had always made whom they pleased
bishop, and put in a governor of the city besides : but the
king, to increase his authority, proceeded in a quite different
manner, caused the town walls to be demolished, and new
ones to be raised about the city, which before (as I said)
was weaker than the town, with great ditches betwixt them ;
so that in effect the king gave nothing by the treaty; for
he that was master of the city could command the town when
he pleased. There was not the least mention made of the
duchy of Burgundy, the county of Boulogne, the towns upon
the Somme, or the chastellanies of Peronne, Roye, and Mon-
* These projects were afterwards realised bj tho Treaty of Arra%
toncluded on the 23rd December, 1482.
V 2
36 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1479.
didier. Tlie Gantois were extremely pleased with these
proposals, and behaved themselves very disrespectfully to
the Duke and Duchess of Austria; and some of the other
great towns in Flanders and Brabant were equally importu-
nate, particularly Brussels; which was very remarkable, for
Dukes Philip and Charles of Burgundy had always resided
there, and the Duke and Duchess of Austria had their resi-
dence there at that very time. But the long ease and
pleasures that they had enjoyed under the above-mentioned
princes, made them so far forget both God and their sove-
reign, that at last they brought down misfortunes upon their
heads, and occasioned their own ruin, as you shall see.
Cs. VL — How King Louis was surprised with a Malady that for some
time took away the Use of both his Senses and Tongue ; how he
recovered and relapsed several Tiroes, and how he kept himself in
his Castle at Plessisles Tours. — 1479.
In the year 1479, in the month of March, a truce was con-
cluded between the two princes ; and the king was very
solicitous for a peace, especially in the quarter I have men-
tioned, provided that it proved very advantageous for his
affairs. He began now to decline in age, and to be subject
to infirmity ; and as he was sitting at dinner one day at
Forges, near Chinon, he was seized on a sudden with a fit
that took away his speech. Those who were about him took
him from the table, placed him near the fire, and shut up the
windows ; and though he endeavoured to get to them for the
benefit of the air, yet some of them, imagining it for the best,
kept him away. It was in March, 1480, when this fit seized
upon him after this manner, which deprived him of his
speech, understanding, and memory. As soon as you arrived,
my Lord of Vienne, who were then his physician, you ordered
him a clyster, and caused the windows to be opened to give
him fresh air, and he came to himself immediately, recovered
his speech and his senses in some measure, and mounting od
horseback, he returned to Forges, for he was taken with this
tt in a small village about a quarter of a league off, whither
1*80.] ILLNESS OF KING LOUIS. 37
he had gone to hear mass. He was diligently attended, and
made signs for everything he wanted ; among other things,
he desired the official of Tours to come and take his con-
fession, and made signs that I should be sent for, for I was
gone to Argenton, which is about ten leagues off.
Upon my return I found him at table, and with him
Master Adam Fumee* (pliysician to the late King Charles,
and at present Master of the Requests), and Master Claude f»
another physician. He made signs that I should lie in his
chamber; he understood little that was said to him, and
could form no words ; but he felt no manner of pain. I
waited on him fifteen days J at table, and attended on his
person like a valet-de-chambre, which I took for a great
honour, and it gave me great reputation. At the end of two
or three days he began to recover his speech and his senses ;
and he fancied no one understood him so clearly as myself,
and therefore would have me always to attend him. He
confessed himself to the official in my presence, for other-
wise they could not have understood each other. There was
no great matter in his confession, for he had confessed a few-
days before ; because whenever the kings of France touch
for the king's evil, they confess themselves beforehand, and
he never missed touching once every week, and if other
princes do not the same, I think they are highly to blame,
for there are always great numbers of sick people to be
touched. As soon as he was a little recovered, he began to
inquire who they were who held him by force from going to
the window ; and being told their names, he banished them
from court, took away their employments from some of them,
and never would see them again. From some, as the Lord
de Segre§, and Gilbert de Grassay, Lord of Champeroux ||,
* Adam Fumee, Knight, Lord of Roches St. Qtientin in Touraine,
councillor of the king, Master of Requests in the royal household, and
Commissioner of the Great Seal of France. He died in November,
1494. — Anselme, vi. 420.
f Claude de Molins, physician and councillor to the king.
j The other editions erroneously say '•forty days."
§ Jacques d'Espinay, Lord of Segre and Usse, and captain of the
town of Saint-Macaire, was the son of Richard d'Espinay, one of the
chamberlains of Francis II., Duke of Bretagne. He was afterwards
appointed one of the councillors and chamberlains of King Charles VI1L
U See Vol. I. p. 258.
» S
38 THE MKMOIKS OF PHILIP DE COMM1NES. [1480.
he took away nothing, but banished them from his pre-
tence.
Many wondered at this caprice, condemned his conduct,
and affirmed they had done what, in their opinion, they
thought for the best ; and they spoke the truth ; but the
imaginations of princes are ditferent, and all those who
undertake to account for them are not able to understand
them. He was afraid of nothing so much as of the loss of
his regal authority, which was then very great indeed ; and
he would not suffer his commands to be disobeyed in the
most trivial point. On the other hand, he remembered that
his father, King Charles, in the illness of which he died,
believed that his courtiers intended to poison him, at the
request of his son ; and this made so deep an impression
upon him, that he refused to eat, and by the advice of his
physicians, and of his chief favourites, it was concluded he
should be forced to eat ; and so, after great deliberation, they
forced soup down his throat, upon which violence he died.
King Louis, who had always condemned that proceeding,
took it very angrily that they should use any violence with
him ; and yet he pretended to be more angry than he was,
for the great matter that moved him was an apprehensioa
that they would attempt to govern him in everything else,
and pretend he was unfit for the administration of public
affairs, by reason of the imbecility and unsoundness of his
senses.
After he had thus severely handled the persons above-
mentioned, he made inquiry into what had been done in
council, and what orders had been made during the ten or
twelve days he had been sick ; of which matters the Bishop
of Alby*, his brother the Governor of Burgundy j", the
Marshal de GieJ, and the Lord du Lude, had the principal
charge, as they were with him when he fell ill, and all lodged
under his room, in two little chambers. He also insisted on
seeing all letters and despatches which had arrived, and those
also which arrived every hour; they showed him the most im-
* Louis d'Amboise, Bishop of Alby, was the son of Pierre d'Am-
boise, Lord of Chaumont. In 1480 he was appointed the king's lieu-
tenant-general in Burgundy ; and he died in 1505.
f See Voi. I. p. 34.
X S«* Vol. I. p. 271.
1480.] SUPPOSED DEATH OK THE KINO. 39
portant, and I read them to him. He would pretend to under-
stand them, take them into his own hand, and make as if he
were reading them to himself, when in truth he did not un-
derstand one syllable of them. Yet he would offer now and
then a word, and make signs what answers should be given ;
but little business was despatched during his illness, till we
could see what would be the event; for he was a master
with whom it was necessary to deal straightforwardly.
This indisposition continued about a fortnight; at the end of
which he recovered his speecdi and senses pretty well ; but
he remained very weak, and in great fear of a relapse, for
naturally he was not inclined to put confidence in his phy-
sicians.
As soon as he was a little recovered, he released Cardinal
Balue *, whom he had kept a prisoner for fourteen f years,
though the Pope and other princes had many times inter-
ceded for his liberation ; of which crime he was absolved
afterwards by an express bull from his Holiness, which the
king had earnestly requested. When he was first seized with
his illness, those who were about him took him for dead,
and orders were issued for remitting an excessive and cruel
tax, which, at the instigation of the Lord des Cordes (his
lieutenant in Picardy), he had lately laid upon his subjects,
for raising ten thousand foot as a standing force, and two
* The order for the cardinal's deliverance was in these terms : — " My
Lord Chancellor, — After dinner assemble the whole council, and deliver
Cardinal Balue from my hands, and give him up to the Archpresbyter of
Lodau, in the name of the Legate, who has express commission from our
Holy Father to receive him : that is to say, I give him into the hands
of our Holy Father, or to the Legate for him, or to the Archpresbyter
for the Legate, until he shall come. I have written to him to come with
all haste, and accordingly I believe he will be at Orleans at Christmas;
whither you will go, as well as the greatest personages I can find, to
require justice at his hands. Look to the protestations which you have
to make after dinner, and give them up when you deliver him. And
God keep you, my Lord Chancellor. Written at Flessis du Fare, on
the 20th day of December, 1480."
t Cardinal Balue was a prisoner for eleven years only, as he was
arrested in April, 1469. See Vol. I. p. 165. of these Memoirs. Ik was
confined in an iron cage of his own invention, in which it was impossi-
ble for him to stand upright, or to stretch himself at length. A special
cage was made for his reception, at a cost of sixty livres. — DuroNT, ii.
817.
D A
4.K. THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1481.
thousand five hundred pioneers, who were to be called the
" Gens du Champ ;" to which force he added one thousand
five hundred men at arms, of his old standing forces, who
were to fight on foot upon occasion, among the rest;
besides which he caused a vast number of tents and pa-
vilions to be made, and wagons to inclose all, in imita-
tion of the army of the Duke of Burgundy ; and this
camp cost him fifteen hundred thousand francs a year.*
When it was ready he went to review it, in a lar^e
plain near Pont de l'Arche in Normandy. In this camp
there were the six thousand Swiss I mentioned before, and
this number he never saw but this once. From thence
he returned to Tours, where he was taken with a new fit,
and lost his speech again, and for two hours everybody
thought him dead ; he lay upon a straw- bed in a gallery, with
several people about him: the Lord du Bouchage and I de-
voutly recommended him to St. Claude, and all that were
present concurred with our prayers ; and immediately he
recovered his speech, and walked up and down the house,
but he was very weak and feeble ; and this second fit took
him in 1481. He still went into the country as formerly,
and particularly with me to Argentonf , where he continued
a month, and was very ill ; from thence he went to Thouars,
where he was also very sick ; and he then undertook a journey
to St. Claude, to whom we had recommended him, as you
* This armament awakened the suspicions of the King of England,
as is proved by the following letter from Louis XI. to Lord Hastings:
— " My good cousin, — I have been informed by some merchants of Nor-
mandy just returned from England, that there is a report in your coun-
try that I was at Boulogne, and intended to lay siege to Calais. My
good cousin, as this matter affects me and my honour, I beg you to be so
good as to tell my cousin your king, that I have no such thought, nor
will I do or suffer any damage to the smallest village in the territory of
Calais, and if any one should attempt to injure it, I would defend it
to the best of my power. And I did not go from Plessis du Pare
until the 26th day of May ; but I am going to see my camp at Pont de
l'Arche, which I have not yet seen; and I have ordered the Lord de9
Cordes and the Picards to be there at the end of this month ; and I
assure you that this is the truth, and my cousin the king shall find no
departure from what I have promised him." — Dufont, ii. 219.
f He was at Argenton in November, 1481 ; at Thouars in the
months of January aud February following ; and at Saint-Claude in
ApriL
1481.] DEATH OF THE DUCHESS OF AUSTRIA. 41
have already heard. At his departure from Thouars he sent
me into Savoy, to oppose the Lords de la Chambre*, Mio-
lansf, and Bresse (though he was privately their friend),
for having seized upon the person of the Lord de LuyJ in
Dauphiny, whom he had recommended to be governor to his
nephew, Duke Philibert. He sent a considerable body of
troops § after me, whom I led to Macon against Monsieur de
Bresse ; however, he and I were agreed underhand. Having
taken the Lord de la Chambre || in bed with the Duke of
Savoy at Turin, in Piedmont, he gave m^ notice of it, and I
caused our soldiers to retire ; for he brought the Duke of
Savoy to Grenoble, where the Marshal of Burgundy, the
Marquis de Rothelin, and myself, went to receive and com-
pliment his highness. The king sent for me to meet him at
Beaujeu, in Beaujolois. I was amazed to find him so thin and
weak, and wondered how he had strength enough to bear the
fatigue of travelling as he did ; but his great spirit carried
him through all difficulties.
At Beaujeu he received advice that the Duchess of Austria
was dead of a fall from her horse. She had been set upon a
hot-headed young nag, that threw her down against a piece
of timber, which was the occasion of her death. Others said
she died of a fever, not of her fall ; but be it as it may, she
died not many days after, to the great detriment of her friends
and subjects ; for after her death they never had peace or
prosperity. The people of Ghent and other towns had a
greater love and respect for her than her husband, as she
was their natural sovereign. This misfortune happened in
* Louis, Count of La Chambre and Leville, and Viscount of Mau-
rienne, in Savoy.
■}• Louis de Myolans, appointed Marshal of Savoy in 1478.
I Philibert de Grolee, Knight, Lord of Huis, councillor and chamber-
lain of Louis XL, and Governor of Lyons.
§ Two hundred Frank archers of the King's guard.
|| " The Count de Bresse, being informed of the king's intention,
proceeded to Turin at daybreak on the day before St. Sebastian's day,
the 19th of January, 1480, accompanied by Thomas de Saluces, brother
of the marquis. They entered the Castle of Turin, and went into the
duke's bed chamber, where the Count de la Chambre was sleeping ;
whom Thomas de Saluces, by command of the Count de Bresse, seized
laying, 'You are prisoner of the King of France}' and he had hin.
pat in prison." — Gikcbekou, ii. 42.
42 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. "1482,
the year 1482.* The king told me the news with a great
deal of joy and satisfaction ; being extremely pleased that the
two children')" were under the tutelage of the Gantois, who
(he knew) were inclined to any mischief that might weaken
the power of the house of Burgundy; and now he thought
this was the time to attempt something, because the Duke of
Austria was young, with his father still living, involved in
war on every side, a stranger, and his forces very weak,
because of the covetous temper of his father the emperor.
From that time the king began to deal with the Gantois
by means of his agent the Lord des Cordes, about the mar-
riage of his son the dauphin with the Lady Margaret, the
duke's daughter, who is at present our queen. The Lord
des Cordes applied himself in this affair to one AVilliam
Ryn $, pensionary of the town (a cunning, subtle man), and
to Coppenol §, the town-clerk, who was a hosier, and a
person of gi'eat reputation among the people, who, in times
of trouble, are soonest wrought upon by such folk.
The king returned to Tours, and kept himself so close,
that very few were admitted to see him ; for he was grown
marvellously jealous of all his courtiers, and afraid they
would either depose him, or deprive him of some part of his
authority. || He removed from about him all his old servants,
* On the 27th of March. Her feminine delicacy was so great, that
she preferred to die rather than allow a surgeon to examine her
wounds.
t Margaret and Philip. See pp. 16, 17.
j William Kyn, appointed tenth echevin of Ghent in 1476, and
town councillor in 1482 ; beheaded on the 8th of August, 1484.
§ John Coppenolle, a hosier of Ghent, "a man of no better condi-
tion than William Ryn, and nevertheless appointed steward to the king
of France, with a pension of six hundred francs a year." He was be-
headed at Ghent on the 11th of August, 1491.
|| " He immured himself," says Sir Walter Scott, " in his castle of
Plessis, intrusting his person to the doubtful faith of his Scottish mer-
cenaries. He never stirred from his chamber ; he admitted no one into
it ; and wearied Heaven and every saint with prayers, not for the for-
giveness of his sins, but for the prolongation of his life. With a poverty
of spirit totally inconsistent with his shrewd worldly sagacity, he im-
portuned his physicians, until they insulted as well as plundered him.
B idily health and terrestrial felicity seemed to be his only object. Mak-
ing any mention of his sins when talking on the state of his health
was strictly prohibited ; and when at his command, a priest recited a
M82.] policy of ciiarles vn. 43
especially if they had nny extraordinary familiarity with iiiin ;
but lie took nothing from them, and only commanded them
to retire to their posts or country seats: but this lasted not
kmg, for he died soon after. He did many odd things, which
made some believe his senses were impaired ; but they knew
not his character. As to his suspicion, all princes are prone
to it ; especially those who are wise, and who have many
enemies, and have offended many people, as our master had
done. Besides, he knew he was not beloved by the nobility
of the kingdom, nor by many of the commons; for he had
taxed them more than any of his predecessors, though he
now had some thoughts of easing their burdens, as 1 said
before ; but he should have begun sooner. King Charles VII.
was the first prince who (by the assistance of several wise
and good knights, who had served him in the expulsion of
the English out of Normandy and Guienne) gained that point
of laying taxes upon the country at his pleasure, without the
consent of the three Estates of the kingdom ; but then his
occasions were great, as it was indispensable to secure his
new conquests, and to disperse the free companies who were
pillaging the kingdom. Upon which the great lords of
France consented to what the king proposed, upon promise
of certain pensions in lieu of the taxes which were to be
levied upon them.
Had this king lived long, and kept with him those who were
then of his council, without dispute he would by this time
have enlarged his dominions very considerably; but, consi-
dering what has already occurred, and what is likely to follow
upon it, he has laid a great load both upon his own soul,
and the souls of his successors, and has given his kingdom
a cruel wound, which will bleed a lonjj; time ; namely, by
establishing a terrible band of paid soldiers, in imitation of
the princes of Italy. King Charles at his death had laid
taxes upon all things in his kingdom, amounting to one
million eight hundred thousand francs, and maintained about
prayer to St. Eutropius, in which he recommended the kind's welfare
both in body and soul, Louis caused the two last words to be omitted;
(dying it was not prudent to importune the blessed saint by too many
requests at once. Perhaps bethought, by being silent on his crimes, he
Blight sutt'er them to pass out of the recollection of his celestial patrons,
whose aid he invoked for his body."
44 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINE9. [1482.
one thousand seven hundred men at arms, constantly in pay,
and in the nature of guards, to preserve the peace, and
secure the provinces of the kingdom ; by which means, for a
long while before his death, there was no free quarter, nor
riding up and down the country, which was a great ease
to the people. At the death of our master, he raised an-
nually four million seven hundred thousand francs ; and
had about four or five thousand men at arms, and above
twenty-five thousand foot soldiers ; so that it is no wonder
if he entertained such jealousies and fears of his subjects,
and fancied he was not beloved by them. Yet he made
one very great mistake : he had no confidence in those
who had been brought up and received their preferments
under him ; of whom he might have found many that would
have died before they would have forsaken him in anything.
In the first place, nobody was admitted into the Plessis
du Pare (which was the place where he resided) but his
domestic servants and his archers, who were in number
four hundred, some of whom kept constant guard at the
gate, while others patrolled continually about to prevent its
being surprised. No lord nor person of quality was per-
mitted to lodge in the castle, nor to enter with any of his
retinue ; nor, indeed, were any of them admitted but the
Lord de Beaujeu, the present Duke of Bourbon, who was
his son-in-law. Round about the castle of Plessis he caused
a lattice of iron bars to be set up, and spikes of iron to be
planted in the wall, with several points projecting along the
ditch, wherever there was a possibility for any person to
enter. Besides which, he caused four watch-houses to be
made of thick iron and pierced with holes, out of which his
archers might shoot at their pleasure ; and these were a very
clever invention and cost above twenty thousand francs ; in
them he placed twenty of his crossbow men, who were upon
guard night and day, with orders to fire upon any man that
ventured to come near, before the opening of the gate in the
morning. He also persuaded himself that his subjects
would be apt to divest him of his power, and take the ad-
ministration of affairs upon themselves, when they saw their
opportunity ; and, indeed, there were some persons about
the court that consulted together how they might get into
the Plessis, and despatch affairs according to their own
wishes; but they durst not attempt it, and they acted
1482.] TREATY OF ARRAS. 45
wisely, for the king had provided against every attack. He
often changed his bed-chamber attendants, and all the rest
of his servants, alleging that nothing was more agreeable to
nature than novelty. For conversation he kept only one or
two with him, and those of inferior condition, and of no great
reputation; who, if they had been wise, would have clearly
seen that as soon as he was dead, the best they could expect
would be to be turned out of all their employments ; and so
it happened. Those persons never acquainted him with
anything that was sent or written to him, unless it concerned
the preservation of the State, or the defence of the kingdom ;
for he concerned not himself for anything, but to live quietly
and peaceably with all men. He gave his physician * ten
thousand crowns a month, and within the space of five
months he received of his majesty above fifty-four thousand.
He also gave large estates to the church ; but this gift was
never ratified, for the church was thought to have too much
already.
A Treaty between Louis XI. of France, and Maximilian
Duke of Austria, as well for himself as his Children,
made at Arras, December 23. 1482.
1. There shall be a perpetual peace, union, and alliance
between the king, dauphin, and kingdom, their countries, terri-
tories, and subjects on the one part ; and Duke Maximilian of
Austria, Duke Philip, and the Lady Margaret of Austria,
his children, their countries, territories, and subjects, on the
other; laying aside all rancour and enmity towards one
another, and any or all manner of injuries, either in word
or deed.
2. For the more firm establishing of the peace, a treaty of
marriage is agreed to between the dauphin, the king's son
and heir-apparent to the crown, and the Lady Margaret
of Austria, only daughter of the said duke, and of the
late Mary of Burgundy, only daughter of Duke Charles of
Burgundy, to be solemnised when the said lady shall be of
fit age.
3. As soon as the peace is proclaimed, the said lady shall
• His physician in ordinary was named Jacques Coitier. He also
held the office of Vice President of the Cham bre des Comptes, of which
he became President in 1482. He died on the 29th of October. 1506.
eSi THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1482
forthwith be conducted to Arras, and be put into the hands
of Monsieur de Beaujeu, or another prince of the blood
authorised by the king for that purpose ; and the king shall
take care to bring her up as his eldest daughter, the wife of
the said dauphin
4. Upon the delivery of the said lady, Monsieur de Beau-
jeu shall swear solemnly, in the presence of the princes and
lords who shall conduct her, in the king's name, that the
dauphin, when she comes of age, shall take her in marriage,
and proceed to the consummation of the same.
5. The like oath Monsieur de Beaujeu shall take in the
name of the dauphin, being authorised thereunto by the
king, upon tiie account of his youth.
6. In consideration of this marriage, the Duke of Austria
and the states of his country, agree in their own names, and
in that of Duke Philip, that the countries of Artois, Bur-
gundy, the lands and signories of Maconnois, Auxerrois,
Salins, Bar-sur-Seine, and Noyers, shall be given in dower
with her to the dauphin, to be enjoyed by them, their heirs
by that marriage, whether male or female, for ever ; but in
failure thereof, to return to Duke Philip and his heirs. And
seeing these countries, and the greatest part of the province
of Artois, are at present in the king's possession, it is agreed
they shall be the dowry and inheritance of the said lady,
to be enjoyed by the dauphin her intended husband, and
her heirs. But in case those countries should come into any
other hands than those of the dauphin and the issue
of this marriage, the king, dauphin, and their successors,
kings of France, may in that case retain the said counties
of Artois and Burgundy, with the other signories, till the
king's pretensions to Lisle, Douay, and Orchies are deter-
mined. And in case they are not adjudged to return to
him, he and his successors shall pretend no right to them ;
but the earls and countesses of Flanders shall enjoy them
as formerly. Moreover, as soon as the said lady shall arrive
at Arras, she shall be there received and declared Countess
of Artois and Burgundy, and lady of the other territories.
7. From thenceforward the said county of Artois, except
the castle and bailiwick of St. Omer, shall be governed ac-
cording to its ancient rights and privileges, as well the cities
as the oren country, by and in the name of the dauphip
1482.] TREATY OF ARRAS. 47
her future husband ; and the domain and revenue, with the
administration of justice, and other privileges, shall appertain
to him.
8 The same thing shall be done in respect to the county
of Burgundy and the other signories.
9. The king, at the request of the said duke and states, shall
restore Arms to its ancient government, under the admini-
stration of the dauphin, by appointing officers for that pur-
pose ; the king is content that the dauphin shall do so.
10. As to the town, castle, and bailiwick of St. Omer
(which is in the province of Artois), it is comprehended
with the said county of Artois in the dower or' the said
Lady Margaret, and so shall be forth witli delivered into the
possession of the dauphin, upon the completing and consum-
mation of the marriage with her.
11. The guarding and government of the said town,
castle, and bailiwick from henceforward is to be put into the
hands of the inhabitants, in order to be given up to the
dauphin upon the consummation of his marriage ; and they
shall make solemn oath before the king or his commissioners,
that during the minority of the lady they will not deliver
them up to the Duke of Austria, Duke Philip, or their agents.
12. The like oath shall be taken by them to the Duke of
Austria, that they shall not deliver them up to the king,
dauphin, or their agents, during the minority, and till the
consummation of the marriage.
13. For the better support of the town, the domain
thereof, &c, shall be applied towards it during the mi-
nority ; neither shall the town and bailiwick pay the tax
called the Ordinary Aid of Artois.
14. As to the appointing of officers, such as bailiff, &c,
the duke, as father of the lady, shall have the nomination
during the said time, and the dauphin, as her intended hus-
band, the institution : but if the said lady should happen to
die before the consummation of the marriage, the inhabitants
shall restore the town, with its appendages, to the Duke of
Austria, and Duke Philip, his son, or successors.
15 The privileges of the town shall be maintained, and
justice administered in the same manner as formerly ; and
the estates of the place shall take care to provide lor the
guard of it.
48 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1482.
16. As to the neighbouring forts and castles, the lords of
them shall bind themselves not to Injure, but to assist them
in defence of the same.
17. If a war should break out between the kins and the
duke, they shall not intermeddle, or receive a garrison from
either.
18. It shall be free for the inhabitants of all conditions to
go and traffic, or otherwise, into France, or the dominions
of the Duke of Austria, and other neighbouring kingdoms
and countries.
19. Upon the surrendering of the town to the dauphin
and the Lady Margaret, upon their marriage, those princes
shall make oath to maintain it, as a member of the county
of Artois, and the county of Artois, in all its privileges, as
their predecessors the counts and countesses of Artois have
done, without innovation in the government there.
20. The king resigns the provision made for the town
by the late Duchess of Austria, and the duke her husband,
for the discharge of the debts and rents due from it.
21. The king and the dauphin oblige themselves to pay
the debts contracted by the duchess, the Duke of Burgundy
her father, and their other predecessors, by mortgaging the
revenues of the said county.
22. The yearly pensions assigned by the duchess, Duke.
Charles, &c, upon the domain of the said counties and
signories of Burgundy and Artois, shall be continued.
23. In consideration of this lady's dowry, the king and
dauphin renounce all claims and pretensions upon the
duchies, counties, goods, moveables and immoveables what-
soever, remaining after the death of the duchess, the lady's
mother.
24. In case, upon the account of death, or otherwise, the
said marriage should not be consummated, the dowers, and
the said counties and signories shall be restored to the Duke
of Austria ; but at the same time with a salvo to the kind's
pretensions to the towns and chastellanies of Lisle, Douay,
and Orchies.
25. If, after the consummation of the marriage, the
dauphin should die (whether he leaves children or not by
the said lady), she shall enjoy the counties of Artois and
Burgundy as her portion, and withal fifty thousand livres of
1482.] TREATY OF AKUAS. 49
Tournay yearly as dower, assigned to her in Champagne,
Berry, and Touraine.
26. If she should happen to die before the Dauphin, the
children shall succeed in those territories that are her portion;
and in case there are no children, they shall revert to the
next heirs.
27. Neither the King nor Dauphin shall, during the mi-
nority of Duke Philip, claim to have the government of
the said countries of Brabant, Flanders, &c, but shall leave
them in the condition they are now in.
28. If Duke Philip should die under age, and the said
lady becomes his heir, the King and Dauphin shall agree
that the government of the said countries shall continue upon
the same footing.
29. In case Duke Philip die without issue of his body, and
that his dominions fall to his sister and her heirs, who shall
also be heirs to the crown of France, the King and the
Dauphin shall engage that the said countries shall be main-
tained in all their ancient rights and privileges.
30. The King's sovereignty over the country of Flanders
is acknowledged by the Duke and the States, and Duke
Philip, when he comes of age, shall do homage for the same
in the usual form.
31. The King confirms all the ancient and modern pri-
vileges of the three members of Flanders, and particularly
the towns and corporations of the country of Flanders, the
towns and chatellanies of Lisle, Douay, and St. Omer.
32. The inhabitants of Antwerp shall also have their
privileges maintained.
33. Customs and tolls shall be paid as usual.
34. Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, widow of the late
Duke Charles, is comprehended in this treaty, and she shall
have the full enjoyment of the lands of Chaussins and La
Pierriere, upon the repaying of twenty thousand crowns in
gold to the country of Burgundy ; and in case, by the death
of the young duke, those countries should come into the
hands of France, she shall be maintained fully in her dower,
and find all kind assistance, as a cousin and relation, from
the King and Dauphin.
35. A general act of indemnity is agreed to on both
sides, in as ample manner as could be desired by offenders.
VOL. IL S
W) THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1482.
36. The subjects and adherents of botli parties shall be
reinstated in their dignities, benefices, fiefs, lands, sig-
niories, and other inheritances, rents, &c, without being
called in question for any thing that happened during the
war, and notwithstanding any declarations, confiscations, and
arrests, to the contrary whatsoever.
37. If the inheritances of any persons who followed the
fortune of the adverse party have been sold in court for the
payment of their debts, they shall forthwith re-enter upon
the peace, and pay their debts within a year after ; if not,
the order of court shall stand.
38. In case the debts were purely personal, for which the
inheritance of the followers of the opposite party have been
sold, the debtor shall return to his inheritance, without
making any compensation to the purchaser.
39. The subjects on both sides shall return to the pos»
session of their immoveable goods, as well before the troubles
begun in Duke Charles's time, as after.
40. As to the profits and income of estates, which have
been levied by the commanders of the respective parties,
those that received them shall never be accountable for
them, and no prosecution in law, upon that account, shall
take effect against them.
41. All personal debts granted by the princes, or pur-
suant to their order, shall be theirs who had the grant of
them. As to all other moveables in being upon the peace,
they shall belong to those that had them before the war,
without any molestation or any impediment whatsoever.
42. The town of St. Oiner and its dependencies, are fully
discharged of all rewards, remissions, &c, which have been
granted them.
43. The Duke of Austria and his children are, by this
treaty, fully discharged of all debts they may owe to those
who adhered to the contrary party, and they and their
descendants shall never be molested for them.
44. Upon returning to their possessions, nobody shall
take any oath to the prince or lord under whom the said
possessions are, saving vassals and feoffees.
45. The widow of the late Peter of Luxemburg, and the
ladies Mary and Frances, her daughters, shall be restored
to their estates, as well thuse which they enjoyed in the
1 482. J TREATY OF ARRAS. 51
lifetime of Lewis de Luxemburg, Count of St. Paul, Madame
Jane de Bar his wife, and John de Luxemburg, Count of
Marie, their eldest son. In like manner, Monsieur de Croy,
Count of Porcien, is restored particularly to the County of
Porcien, the granaries belonging to the castle of Cambarsay,
Montcornet, and other appanages, in the signiory of Bar-
eur-Aube, and other places in Picardy.
46. The King shall favour the Count de Romont, in his
pretensions to the county of Romont, and the county of
Vaux ; and as for the Princes and Princesses of Orange,
the Count of Joigny, Liepart de Chalon, the Lord of Lorme,
Messieurs William de la Beaume, Du Lain, Claude de Tou-
longeon, and the Sieur de la Bastie, they are comprehended
in this peace, and shall be re-instated.
47. In like manner, the monks of Anchin are restored to
their abbey ; so are those of the church and abbey of St.
Wast d' Arras, and the inhabitants of Arras, Avhether they
have withdrawn into the one or the other prince's country,
shall freely return home, and follow their respective occu-
pations, without any let or hindrance, as before the war.
48. The heirs of those who have been put to death for
adhering to the party opposite to him under whom they
lived, shall return to their estates and succeed. The widows
also of such shall have their rights and dowries.
49. As to persons enjoying their own, they shall not be
obliged to go and reside where their estates are, either in
the one or the other countries.
50. The King consents to free the county of Artois, the
towns of Arras, Aire, Lens, Bapaume, Bethune, their vil-
lages, and the chastellany of Lilliers, from the tax called
the ordinary aid of Artois, and all other extraordinary aids,
for the space of six years, from the day of the date of the
peace: and seeing the late Duchess of Austria hath ex-
empted the hospitals of Douay, &c, from paying any taxes
to the county of Artois for their inheritances, the King and
Dauphin confirm the same privileges.
51. Those who shall return to their possessions shall not
be accountable for any rent due during the war; and the
lands which, by reason of the war, have been untilled, shall
have no rent paid for them till next Christmas.
52. Those who, at their entry upon fiefs and inheritances,
■ 2
C2 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINK3. [14d2.
are obliged to pay fines and other duties to their lords, shall
have three months allowed them to do it, after the peace,
and so remain unmolested.
53. Tlie nobility and feoffees of the territories of the
Duke of Austria, and his son Philip, shall not be obliged to
serve under any but them, or their lieutenants ; and in case
that they, or one of them, should be in the King's service, if
they are not there in person, the other shall not be obliged
to serve in person, but may send another.
54. The decrees and sentences made in the court of
Malines, as also of the grand council of the Dukes Philip
and Charles, the Duchess Mary and the present duke, shall
stand good, and not be brought into question before the
Parliament of Paris, or any other sovereign court. But
those suits and clauses which are not yet decided in the
said courts, shall be brought before the Parliament of Paris,
and there be determined.
55. In like manner, mortmains, compositions, new acquests,
and ennoblings, made by the said dukes and duchess, shall
remain good ; only the subjects of the county of Artois
shall be obliged to take new patents for their nobility,
which shall be granted without any charge to them.
56. The abolitions, remissions, and pardons, granted by
Duke Charles, his daughter, and the dukes of Austria, to the
counties of Flanders, Lille, Douay, Artois, and Burgundy,
shall be valid ; only the subjects of Artois shall sue them out
as before.
57. The inhabitants on the frontiers of the duke, and
others subject to the French crown, cited to appear in per-
son in the court of Parliament, or before the royal judges,
shall appear only by their proctors, during the minority of
the said lady ; and the same privilege is granted to St. Omer.
Those preferred to livings by Duke Charles, his daughter, &c,
shall remain in quiet possession of them, notwithstanding any
pretence of a pragmatic sanction, or the like, to the contrary.
58. Tournay, Tournesis, St. Amand, and Mortagne, are
comprehended in this treaty ; and any places the King may
have in the duchy of Luxemburg, shall be restored to the
Archduke, and his son Philip ; so shall also the houses of
Flanders, and of Conflans, and the house of Artois in the
eaid country.
14S2."| TREATY OF ARRAS. 68
59. After the lady shall be delivered into the hands of
those appointed to receive her for the Dauphin, the troops,
for the benefit of trade, shall be withdrawn by the King
from the little places on the frontiers; and for the larger
ones, the garrisons shall be regulated to the satisfaction of
the Duke of Austria, and the States of the country.
60. As for the Duke's desiring to have the King of Eng-
land and Duke ofBretagne comprehended in the treaty, it
is answered, "the English are in truce with France, and for
the Duke ofBretagne, the King is at peace with him."
61. The King, after the peace, will assist the duke against
William of Aremberg, the Liegeois, and all others that shall
invade Brabant, &c.
62. The Duke's subjects shall have all manner of protec-
tion and encouragement, in respect to navigation and com-
merce, equally with those of France.
63. Any prizes taken after the publication of the peace
shall be restored, for the prevention whereof, the peace shall
on both sides be proclaimed without delay.
64. Such as are malefactors and delinquents, after the
peace, shall be seized on both sides, and returned to be
punished by the parties to whom they belong.
65. The infractors and violators of this peace, be they
who they will, shall be punished unfeignedly for an example
to others, in the places where they are taken.
66. In case this peace should in any way be contravened,
it shall not be reputed an infraction or rupture ; but the
breach shall forthwith be made up, and reparation made,
without coming to hostilities either by sea or land, before
the King and the Duke's ambassadors have met together to
adjust the difference in an amicable way.
67. It is agreed, that as soon as the said lady is brought
to Lisle or Douay, and before she be conducted to Arras,
the promises and sureties which follow shall be given the
Duke and States. That in case the Dauphin do not ac-
complish the marriage in due time, the said lady shall be
returned, at the King's or Dauphin's charge, to her father or
brother, in one of the good towns of Brabant. Flanders, or
Hainault, in the Duke's possession ; and the King and
Dauphin, in that case, shall quit all pretensions for keeping
the territories and countries of Artois, Burgundy, Charolois,
a 3
54 THE MEMOIRS OK PHILIP DE COMMINE8. [1482.
Majonnois, Auxerrois, the lordships of Salins, Bar-sur-
Seine, and Noyers, and surrender them to the Duke in the
name of his son Philip, while under age, or to Philip when
of age, reserving only the homage and sovereignty to him.
68. The King shall also, upon the failure of the marriage,
renounce his right to Lisle, Douay, and Orchies, and consent
they shall belong for ever to the Counts and Countesses of
Flanders.
69. The signing, sealing, and ratifying of all the premises
in ample and due form, shall be done by the parties on
either sides. The treaty shall also be registered and verified
in the court of the Parliament of Paris, and in the Chambers
of Accompts, and of the Finances.
The rest of the articles being mere matter of form, con-
cerning the observation of the treaty, are omitted.
Ch. VII. — How the King sent for the Holy Man of Calabria to
Tours, supposing he could cure him; and of the strange Things that
were done by the King, during his Sickness, to preserve his Autho-
rity.—1482.
Among men renowned for devotion, King Louis sent into
Calabria for one Friar Robert*, who, for the holiness and
purity of his life, was called the " Holy Man ;" and in honour
to whom our present King erected a monastery at Plessis-du-
Parc, in compensation for the chapel near Plessis at the end
* In previous editions it is erroneously stated that the name of this holy
man was Friar Robert; but there can be no doubt, that the personage al-
luded to in the text was St. Francis de Paulo, the founder of the Minims,
or lowest order of monks. He was born at Paulo in Calabria in the year
1416. He began his career by retiring to a cave on a desert part of
the coast, where his sanctity soon obtained for him many followers, who
ere long constructed a monastery round his cell. His rule was ex-
tremely rigorous; he enjoined his disciples to abstain from wine, fish, and
meat, never to sleep on a bed, to go always barefooted, and to practise
many other bodily mortifications. He died in France, on the 2nd of
April, 1507, at the age of ninety-one, and he was canonised by Pope
Leo X. in 1519. By the confession of his admirers, he was perfectly
illiterate.
I4S2.] THE nOLY MAN OF CALABRIA. 53
of the bridge.* This hermit, at the age of twelve years, was
put into a hole in a rock, where he lived until the age ot
three and forty years and upwards, when the King sent for
him by a steward of his household f, in the company of the
Prince of Tarento, the son of the King of Naples. For this
hermit would not stir without leave from his Holiness, and
from his king, which was great discretion in a man so inex-
perienced in the affairs of the world, though he had built
two churches in the place where he lived ; and he never had
eaten flesh, fish, eggs, milk, or any thing that was fat J, since
he undertook thatf austerity of life, nor has he yet ; and truly
I never saw any man living so holy, nor out of whose mouth
the Holy Ghost did more manifestly speak; for he was not
illiterate, though he had never been taught ; only his Italian
tongue was a great assistance to him.
This hermit passed through Naples, where he was re-
spected, and visited (with as much pomp and ceremony,
as if he had been the Pope's Legate) both by the King of
* By letters patent, dated on the 6th of May, 1491, Charles VIII.
ordains " that the furniture, vestments, and ornaments which decorate
the chapel of St. Matthew in the lower court of his house at Plessis,
and which belong to Francis de Paulo and his companions, shall be re-
moved to the place where, at their prayer and request, he has recently
caused a church to be built for them, behind the enclosure of the park
of Montils, and dedicated to Jesu Maria."
f Guynot de Boussiere, or Guynot de Lauziere, as he is called in a
letter from Louis XL to Francis de Genas, superintendent of the fi-
nances. The letter is as follows: — "Mr. Superintendent, — The seneschal
of Qucrcy, Guynot de Lauziere, who brought to me the good holy man,
complains that you have deprived him of half of his pension, which
amounts to 600 livres tournois, and that you told him I had ordered it.
which I did not, and never intended to do. And I assure you I am not
pleased with you, wherefore take care (and fear to disobey me), that as
soon as you sec these letters, the matter may be entirely settled, and the
pension paid in such a manner that I may hear no more about it; for
if you fail to obey, you shall be lodged in the hands of my Lord of
Alby; and from this time forth, and until he is satisfied, I detain in my
hands the wages and pensions which you receive from me. Written at
l'lcssis du Fare, on the 15th day of May, 1482." — Dupont, ii. 229.
I Another letter from Louis XI. to Francis de Genas illustrates the
holy man's mode of life : — " Mr. Superintendent, — I beg you to send me
Bonie limes and sweet oranges and muscadcl pears and water melons, for
the holy man who cats neither flesh nor fish: and you will thereby give
me very great pleasure. Written at Clery on the 29th of June, 1483."
£ 4
56 THE MEMOIRS OF PIIILIP DE COMMOTES. [1482
Naples and his children, with whom he conversed as if he
had been all the days of his life a courtier. From thence he
went to Rome, where he was visited by all the cardinals,
had audience three times of the Pope, and was every time
alone with him three or four hours, sitting beside him in a
rich chair (which was great honour for a person of his low
condition), and answering so discreetly to everything that
was asked him, that everybody was astonished at it, and
his Holiness gave him leave to institute a new order, called
the Hermits of St. Francis. From Rome he came to our
king *, who paid him the same honour as he would have
done to the Pope himself, falling down upon his knees
before him, and begging him to prolong his life : to which
he replied as a prudent man ought. I have heard him often
in discourse with the present king, in the presence of all the
nobility of the kingdom, and that not above two months
ago ; and it seemed to me that whatever he said or remon-
strated, was suggested by inspiration, or else it would have
been impossible for him to have spoken of some things that
he discoursed of. He is still living, and may grow either
better or worse, and therefore I will say nothing. There
were some of the courtiers that made a jest of the king's
sending for this hermit, and called him the Holy Man, by
way of banter; but they knew not the thoughts of that wise
king, and had not seen what it was that induced him to
doit.
Our king was at Plessis, with little company but his
archers, and the suspicions I mentioned before, against which
he had carefully provided ; for he allowed no person, of whom
he had any suspicion, to remain either in the town or
country ; but he sent his archers not only to warn, but to con-
duct them away. No business was communicated to him
but what was of great importance, and highly concerned him.
To look upon him one would have thought him rather a dead
than a living man. He was grown so lean, it was scarce
credible: his clothes were now richer and more magnificent
than they had ever been before ; his gowns were all of
crimson satin, lined with rich martens' furs, of which he
gave several away, without being requested ; for no person
durst ask a favour of him, or scarce speak to him of any
* He arrived at the castle of Plessis on the 24th of April, 1482.
1482 | STRANGE CONDUCT OP THE KING.
57
thing. He inflicted very severe punishments to inspire
dread, and for fear of losing his authority, as he told me
himself. He removed officers, disbanded soldiers, retrenched
pensions, and sometimes took them away altogether ; so that,
as he told me not many days before his death, he passed his
time in making and ruining men ; which caused him to be
talked of more than any of his predecessors, and he did this
that his subjects might take notice he was not yet dead ;
for few were admitted into his presence (as I said before),
and when they heard of his vagaries, nobody was willing to
believe he was sick.
He also sent agents to all foreign courts. In England,
their business was to carry on the treaty of marriage *, and
pay King Edward and his ministers of state their pensions
very punctually. In Spain, their instructions were to amuse
that court with fair words, and to distribute presents as
they found it necessary for the advancement of his affairs.
In remoter countries, where he had no mind his indisposi-
tion should be known, he caused fine horses or mules to be
bought at any rate whatever ; but tins was not done in
France. He had a mighty curiosity for dogs f, and sent
into foreign countries for them; into Spain for mastiffs;
into Bretagne for greyhounds and spaniels ; to Valentia for
little shaggy dogs ; and bought them at a dearer price than
the people' asked. He sent into Sicily to buy a mule of an
officer of that country, and paid him double the value. At
Naples he bought horses ; and purchased strange creatures
wherever they could be found, such as a sort of lion? from Bar-
bary | no bigger than foxes, and which are called adits. He
sent into Sweden and Denmark for two sorts of beasts those
* The marriage of the Dauphin with the Princess Elizabeth of
England.
t The accounts of Jehan Ragnier for the year 1479 inform us that
he gave " to a Portuguese, who had brought some dogs to the King,
six gold crowns; to an Englishman, who brought him a great dog, ten
gold crowns; to a man who brought him a little dog, one crown; to six
men who brought him some live hares, thirty crowns."
{ In 1482, a sum of 1G0 livres was paid to Master Mace Bastard, for
the expenses of a journey he had made into Provence, by the King's
order, " to await the coming of certain galleys with strange and savage
beasts, and other things, which the King had ordered to be brought from
the countries of Barbary." — Eontameu, 142.
6$ THE MK3IOIU8 OF PHILIP DE COMBINES. [1482,
countries afforded ; one of them called an elk, of the shape
of a stag, and the size of a buffalo, with short and thick
horns ; the other, called reindeers, of the shape and colour
of a fallow deer, but with much larger horns ; indeed I have
seen reindeers with fifty-four horns ; for six of each of
which beasts he gave the merchants four thousand five hun-
dred Dutch florins.* Yet, when all these rarities were
brought to him, he never valued them, and many times would
not so much as see the persons who brought them to him.
In short, he behaved himself after so strange a manner, that
he was more formidable, both to his neighbours and subjects,
than he had ever been before ; and indeed that was his
design, and the motive which induced him to act so unac-
countably.
Ch. VIII. — Of the Conclusion of the Marriage between the Dauphin
and Margaret of Flanders, and how she was brought into France;
upon which Edward IV., King of England, died with displeasure. —
1482-3.
But to return to our principal design, and to the conclusion
of these Memoirs, and the affairs of all the illustrious per-
sons of the age in which they were transacted, it is abso-
lutely necessary for us to speak of the conclusion of the mar-
riage between our present king (then Dauphin of France)
and the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Austria,
which was effected by the mediation of the citizens of Ghent,
to the great displeasure of the King of England, who found
himself deluded in the hopes he had entertained of marrying
his daughter to the Dauphin, of which marriage both himself
and his queen were more ambitious than of any other match
in the world ; and never would believe any man, whether
subject or foreigner, that endeavoured to persuade them that
our king's intentions were not sincere and honourable. For
• In the accounts of Pierre de Lailly for the year 1479, the following
entry occurs: - " To Bernard More, an Easterling merchant, 750 livres,
as agreed upon, for bringing to the King six beasts named elks, three
males and three females, and six others named reindeer, also three mulea
and three females." — Dupont, ii. 234.
1482.] CONFERENCE AT HALOTS. 59
the Parliament of England had remonstrated to King
Edward several times, when our king was in Picardy, that
after he had conquered that province he would certainly fall
upon Calais and Guynes, which are not far off. The
ambassadors from the Duke and Duchess of Austria, as also
those from the Duke of Bretagne, who were continually in
England at that time, represented the same thing to him, but
to no purpose ; for he would believe nothing of it *, and he
suffered greatly for his incredulity : yet I am entirely of
opinion his conduct proceeded not so much from ignorance as
avarice, for he was afraid to lose his annual pension of fifty
thousand crowns, which our master paid very punctually ;
and, besides, he was unwilling to leave his ease and pleasures,
to which he was extremely given.
There was a conference held at Halots, in Flanders, about
this marriage, at which the Duke of Austria (now King of
the Romans) was present, with several commissioners from
the three Estates of Flanders, Brabant, and other territories
belonging to the Duke and his children. There the Gan-
tois did several tilings contrary to the Duke's inclination ; for
they banished his officers, removed old servants from about his
son, told him their desire to have the marriage concluded, in
order to establish peace, and forced him to an accommodation,
whether he would or not. The Duke was very young, and
but scantily provided with sense ; for all belonging to the
house of Burgundy were either slain or revolted to France,
or at least the greatest part, I mean of such as were capable
of advising him ; so that coming thither with a small
retinue, and having lost his duchess, who was sovereign in
those provinces, he durst not speak so boldly to his subjects
as when she was alive. In short, the King was informed of
all these proceedings by the Lord des Cordes, and was very
well pleased ; and a day was set for the young lady to be
conducted to Hesdin.
A few days before, in the year 1481, Aire was delivered
up, for a sum of money f, to the Lord des Cordes, by the Lord
* He was probably satisfied by the letter of Louis XL to Lord
Hastings. See p. 40.
t Aire surrendered on the 28th July, 1482. It was sold by the Lor 1
de Cohea tor an annual pens' on of ten thousand crowns. — Molinex, iu
3Uf,
6C THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES [1482,
de Coliem (a gentleman of Artois), who had held it under
his captain, the Lord de Beurs*, for the Duke of Austria, a
good while. The surrender of this town, which was very
strong, and situated in Artois, at the very entrance into their
country, helped the Flemings to hasten the marriage, for
though they were well enough pleased at the diminution of
the Duke's power, yet they did not care to have the King so
near them upon their frontiers. As soon as measures were
concerted, as I said before, ambassadors were sent to the
King from Flanders and Brabantf ; but all depended upon
the Gantois, by reason of their strength, and because the
Duke's children were in their hands, and they were always
the most forward in every commotion. With them there came
in behalf of the King of the Romans, certain young noble-
men much about his own age, and but indifferently qualified
to make terms of peace for their country ; Monsieur John
de BerghesJ was one, and Monsieur Baudouin de Lannoy§
was the other, besides some few secretaries. Our king was
then very ill, and had no inclination to be seen, and pre-
tended great difficulty about swearing to the treaties in the
manner agreed on ; but it was only because he was unwilling
they should see him. However, he swore to them at last,
which wasmuch to his advantage ; for whereas in all his former
overtures for the match, lie demanded only the county of
Artois or Burgundy, or whichever of the two they pleased
to assign him: now, the States of Ghent (as he called them)
were contented he should have both, and the counties of
Maconnois, Charolois, and Auxerrois, into the bargain; and
if they could have delivered Hainault, Namur, and all the
subjects of that family who speak the French language,
* Philip of Burgundy, Lord of Bevres and La Vere, councillor and
chamberlain of Maximilian, King of the Romans, Knight of the Golden
Fleece, and Governor of Artois.
f These ambassadors arrived at Paris on Saturday, the 3rd of
January, 1483, and proceeded on the following Monday to Amboise,
where the King was then residing. — Lenglet, ii. 168.
£ John de Berghes, knight, Lord of Cohen and Olhain, and governor
of the town of Aire for the Archduke Maximilian.
§ Baudoin de Lannoy, second of the name, Lord of Molembrais,
Knight of the Golden Fleece, chamberlain and steward of the Archduke
Maximilian. He died on the 7th of May, 1501.
1483.] RECEPTION OF MARGARET OF FLANDERS. 61
they would willingly have done so, on purpose to weaken
their sovereign.
Our master was a cunning politician, and understood well
enough that Flanders was of little importance to him, unless
he could have Artois with it, which lies betwixt France and
them, and is as it were a bridle to the Flemings, affording
good soldiers upon occasion, to correct their wantonness and
folly ; and therefore in taking from the Earl of Flanders the
county of Artois, he would leave him the most inconsider-
able prince in Europe, without either subjects or authority,
except by the permission of the Gantois; whose commis-
sioners, William Ryn and Coppenole, whom I mentioned
before (governors ol* Ghent), were at that time principal in
the embassy. Upon the return of the ambassadors, the
Lady Margaret was conducted to Hesdin, and delivered into
the hands of the Lord des Cordes, in the year 1483, and
with her came Madame de Ravestain, Duke Philip of Bur-
gundy's natural daughter, and they were received by the
present Monsieur and Madame de Bourbon*, the Lord
d'Albretf, and others from the king; and they brought
her to Amhoise, where the dauphin met her.} If the Duke
* Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI. and Charlotte of Savoy,
married Pierre de Bourbon, Lord of Beaujeu, in 1474, and assumed the
title of Duchess of Bourbon in 1488. She died on the 14th of November,
1522, after having governed the kingdom with great prudence and
energy during the minority of Charles VIII.
f Alain le Grand, son of Jean d'Albret, Viscount de Tartas, suc-
ceeded his grandfather Charles II. in 1471. He married Frances, daugh-
ter of Jean de Blois, Count of Penthievre ; and in virtue of this mar-
riage, set up a claim to the duchy of Brittany, and became a competitor
for the hand of Anne of Brittany. He died in October, 1522.
J Margaret was then three years and a half old, and the Dauphin
rather more than twelve. Their meeting took place on Sunday, the
22nd of June, 1483, at a place called Metairie le Payne, near Amboise.
"The Dauphin," says a contemporary letter, "left the Castle of Am-
boise, dressed in a robe of crimson satin, lined with black velvet, and
mounted on a hackney, and attended by thirty archers. At the bridge
he dismounted, after having saluted the ladies, and changed his
dress and put on a long robe of cloth of gold. . . Presently the
Dauphiness arrived, and descended from her litter ; and immediately
they were betrothed by the prothonotary, nephew of the Grand Sene-
schal of Normandy, who demanded of the Dauphin in a loud voice, so
that all could hear him, If he would have Margaret of Austria in mar-
riage ? and he answered, Yes ; and a similar question was put to th«
62 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP HE COMMINES. [1483.
of Austria could have taken her from her convoy, he would
willingly have done it before she left his dominions ; but the
Gantois had placed too strong a guard about her, for they
had begun to abate much of their obedience to him, and
many considerable persons joined with them, as having the
custody of the young heir, and power of placing and dis-
placing whom they pleased. Among the nobility who were
resident in Ghent, there was the Lord of Ravestain, brother
to the Duke of Cleves, and chief governor to the young
prince, whose name is Philip, still living, and like to possess
vast territories, if it please God to spare his life.
But whoever was pleased with this match, the King of
England was highly affronted ; for he thought himself dis-
graced and baffled, and in danger of losing his pension or
tribute, as the English called it. He feared likewise it
would render him contemptible at home, and occasion some
rebellion, more especially because he had rejected the re-
monstrances of his council. Besides, he saw the King of
France ready to invade his dominions with a very great
force; which made such a deep impression upon his spirits,
that he fell sick immediately upon hearing the news, and
died not long after, though some say he died of a catarrh
But let them say what they please, the general opinion was,
his grief at the consummation of this marriage, caused the
illness which killed him in the month of April, 1483.* It
Dauphiness, who gave the same answer. Upon which, they joined
hands, and the Dauphin kissed the Dauphiness twice ; and then they
returned to their lodgings. And the streets of Amboise were hung
with cloth, and in the market place was a figure of a Siren, who spouted
forth white wine and red from her breasts." The next day, the young
couple went through the ceremony of marriage in the chapel of the cas-
tle.— Dupont, iii. 345. 352.
* King Edward IV. died on the 9th of April, and the Dauphin's
marriage did not take place until the 22nd of June, more than two
months later ; so that the supposition of Commines that he died of
pndef at the disappointment of his own daughter, who had long been
contracted to the Dauphin, is evidently erroneous. His dissolute mode
of life renders it exceedingly probable that he died of a surfeit, accord-
ing to the popular report. " He was a princ V says Hume, " mora
splendid and showy than either prudent or virtuous ; brave, thought
3rucl ; addicted to pleasure, though capable of activity in great emer-
g inrica, and les6 fitted to prevent ills by wise precautions, than to re-
medy them after they took plate, by his vigour and enterprise. '
1483.] DEATH OF EDWARD IV. OF ENGLAND 63
is a great fault in a prince to be obstinate, and rely more
upon his own judgment than on the opinion of his council;
and sometimes it occasions such losses and disappointments
as are never to be repaired.
Our King was quickly informed of King Edward's death i
but he expressed no manner of joy upon hearing the
news. Not long after, he received letters from the Duke of
Gloucester, who had made himself king*, styled himself
Richard III., and barbarously murdered his two nephews.f
This King Richard desired to live in the same friendship
with our king as his brother had done, and I believe would
gladly have had his pension continued; but our king looked
upon him as an inhuman and cruel person, and would neither
answer his letters nor give audience to his ambassador; for
King Richard, after his brother's death, had sworn alle-
giance to his nephew, as his king and sovereign, and yet
committed that inhuman action not long after : and, in full
Parliament, caused two of his brother's daughters to be
degraded and declared illegitimate, upon a pretence which
he justified by means of the Bishop of Bath, who, having
been formerly in great favour with King Edward, had in-
curred his displeasure, was dismissed, imprisoned, and fined
a good sum for his releasement.f This bishop affirmed,
that King Edward being in love with a certain lady whom
he named, and otherwise unable to have his desire9 of her,
had promised her marriage ; and caused the bishop to marry
* Richard III. did not assume the title of King until the 26th of June,
1483, after the death of his nephew Edward V.
f Molinet (ii. 402.) gives the following account of the murder of the
princes : " The eldest was simple and very melancholy, aware of the
wickedness of his uncle, but the youngest was joyous and witty, nimble,
and ever ready for dances and games ; and he said to his brother, who
wore the order of the garter, ' My brother, learn to dance :' and his
brother answered, ' It would be better for us to learn to die, for I think
we shall not long remain in the world !' They were prisoners for
about five weeks ; and Duke Richard had them secretly slain by the
captain of the Tower. And when the executioners came, the eldest was
asleep, but the youngest was awake, and he perceived their intention,
and began to say, ' Ha ! my brother, awake, for they have come to kill
vou.' Then he said to the executioners, ' Why do you kill my brother?
kill me, and let him live.' But they were both killed ; aud their bodies
cast into a secret place."
X See notes, vol. i. pp. 395, 396.
64 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMTNES. [1483.
them, upon which he enjoyed her person, though his promise
was only made to delude her ; but such games are dangerous,
as the effects frequently demonstrate. I have known many
a courtier who would not have lost such a fair lady for want
of promises.
This malicious prelate smothered this revenge in his heart
near twenty years together, but it recoiled upon himself, for
he had a son, of whom he was extremely fond, and to whom
King Richard designed to give a plentiful estate, and to
have married him to one of the young ladies whom he had
declared illegitimate (who is now Queen of England, and
lias two fine children). * This young gentleman being on
board ship by commission from King Richard, was taken upon
the coast of Normandy, and upon a dispute between those that
took him, he was brought before the Parliament at Paris, put
into the Petit Chastellet, and suffered to lie there till he was
starved to death. This King Richard himself lived not long,
no more did the Duke of Buckingham f, who had put the two
children to death, for King Richard himself, a very few days
afterwards, ordered his execution ; and against King Richard
God on a sudden raised up an enemy J, without power, with-
out monej', without right to the crown of England §, and
without any reputation but what his person and deportment
obtained for him ; for he had suffered much, and had been,
from the eighteenth year of his age, prisoner in Bretagne
to Duke Francis, who treated him as kindly as the necessity
of his imprisonment would permit. The King of France
having supplied him with some money, with about three
thousand Normans, the loosest and most profligate persons in
all that country, he passed into Wales, where his father-in-
law, the Lord Stanley, joined him with twenty five thousand
* Arthur, born on the 20th of September, 1486, and Margaret, born
in 1488.
f Molinet (ii. 403) also asserts that Buckingham was implicated in
the murder of the princes ; but there is no evidence to be found in sup-
port of the statement, which rests probably on the fact that the duke was
a prominent supporter of Richard's usurpation, and was therefore
likely to have been concerned in the assassination of his nephews.
J The Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII.
§ Richmond was considered as representing the line of Lancaster by
right of his mother, Margaret Beaufort, who was daughter of a Duke of
Somerset, and a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt.
1483.] PROSPERITY OF KINO LOUTS. 65
men at the least; in three or four days' time he met cruel
King Richard, who was slain on the held of battle ; and he
was crowned King of England, and reigns at this present
time.* I have discoursed on this subject already, but it is
not improper to mention it again, it' only to show that God
in our times has taken vengeance for such cruelties imme-
diately, without delaying his judgments. Several other
princes besides have met with the same reward of their
villanies, in our days ; but who could enumerate them?
Ch. IX. — How the King behaved towards his Neighbours and Sub-
jects during his Sickness; and how several Tilings were sent him from
several Tarts, for the Recovery of his Health. — 14S3.
Aftkr the consummation of this marriage, which our King
had so earnestly desired, the Flemings were perfectly at his
command : Bretagne (which he hated so bitterly) was at
peace with him, but he kept them in great awe and terror
by the number of his forces, which he quartered upon their
frontiers. Spain was quiet, and her king and queen de-
sired nothing more than to live in peace and amity with him,
for he kept them, likewise, in perpetual fear and expense
about the country of Roussillon, which he held of the
House of Arragon, and which had been given him bv John
King of Arragon, father to the present King of Castile, as
security for some conditions "j" which have never yet been
performed. The princes of Italy all courted his friendship;
* Henry left Harfleur on the 1st of August, 1485, with an army of
about 2,000 men, and landed at Milford Haven on the 7th of August.
He met with little opposition in Wales, and at Shrewsbury he was joined
by Sir Gilbert Talbot and all his vassals. Marching onwards, through
the midland counties, he came up with his rival at Bosworth, in Leices-
tershire, on the 22nd of August. Henry was at the head of 6,000 men,
and Richard had an army of above double the number. But during
the action Lord Stanley joined Henry with 7,000 men, and decided the
battle in his favour.
f By letters dated on the 23rd of May, 1462, the King of Arragon
pledged the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne to Louis XI. for the
sum of 300,000 golden crowns, on condition that Louis should supply
him with a sufficient number of troops to reduce Catalonia, and to carry
n the war in Arragon and Valencia. These countius were restored to
vol. n. v
6b TIE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. j_ 1 483.
and some of them had entered into alliance with him, and
sent ambassadors often to his court. In Germany the Swiss
were as obedient to him as his own subjects. The Kings
of Scotland* and Portugal f were his allies. Part of Na-
varre X was perfectly at liis disposal. His subjects trembled
before him ; whatever he commanded was instantly executed,
without the lea?t difficulty or hesitation.
Whatever was thought conducible to his health §, was sent
to him from all corners of the world. Pope Sixtus|| (who
died lately) being informed of the King's illness, and that he,
in his devotion, desired to have the corporal, or vest, which
the Apostle St. Peter used when he sung mass, sent it im-
mediately, and several relics^f besides, which were returned
to him. The holy vial at Rheims, which had never been
moved before, was brought to his chamber at Plessis, and
stood upon his buffet when he died, for he designed to be
anointed with it again, as he was at his coronation. Some
were of opinion that he designed to have anointed himself
all over, but that was not likely, for the vial is but small,
and there is no great store of oil in it.** I saw it myself at
Castile by the Treaty of Barcelona, signed on the 19th of January, 1493.
— Prescott's Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. ii. p. 249.
* James III. See note, Vol. I. p. 398.
•j- John II., son of Alphonso V., King of Portugal. He succeeded to
the throne in 1481, and died on the 25th of October, 1495. It was to
him that Columbus first submitted the theory on which he had founded
his belief in the existence of a western route; but the foolish monarch
refused his patronage to the adventure.
X Navarre was then divided by two opposing factions; that of Queen
Catherine, the niece of Louis XL, and that of the Viscount of Narbonne,
who wished to gain possession of the crown. It is to the former of these
parties, doubtless, that Commines alludes.
§ Amon^ other things, he tried aurum potabile, and paid dearly for
it, though it does not seem to have done him much good.
|| Sixtus IV. died on the 13th of August, 1484. See note, p. 25.
^1 Nor was this the full extent of the Pope's benevolence. He sent
two briefs to Francis de Paulo, ordering him to pray for the rcstorstior
of the King's health, under penalty of excommunication in case of refusal.
— Ratnaldus, xix. i9.
** The supposition of Commines is correct: the King did not dare to
ask, in the first intance, to be entrusted with the phial itself. " Dear
and well-beloved," he wrote to the Abbot of St. Remy at Rheims, on the
17th of April, 1483, "we should much wish, if it were possible, to have
a little drop from the Holy Ampulla; wherefore we pray you to consult
1483.] PRESENTS FOR THE KING'S RECOVERY. 67
the time 1 speak of, and also when our Lord the King was
interred in t lie church of Notre Dame de Clery. * The
Great Turk J that now reigns, sent an ambassador J to him,
who came as far as Riez, in Provence ; but the King would
not hear him, nor permit him to proceed any farther, though
he brought him a larjre roll of relics which had been left at
Constantinople in the hands of the Turk ; all which, and a
considerable sum of money besides, he offered to deliver into
the king's hands, if he would keep guard over a brother § of
and inquire whether a little could be taken from the phial in which it is
contained, without sin or danger." This humble and modest request
having been refused, Louis XI. had recourse to the authority of the
Pope, from whom he obtained the desired permission. Three commis-
sioners, the Bishop of Seez, the Governor of Auvergne, and the Lord
ie la Heuze, were sent to fetch the Holy Ampulla from Rheims. It was
escortod into Paris, on the 31st of July, 1843, with great pomp; and on.
the following day it was taken to the King.
* Notre Dame de Cleiy, a pretty little town on the left bank of the
Loire, nine miles from Orleans.
t Bajazet II., son of Mahomet II., succeeded his father in 1481 ; and
was dethroned and died in 1512.
J The name of this ambassador was Hussein. — Hammer, iii. 361.
§ Djem, or Zizim, brother of Bajazet II., on hearing of his father's
death, resolved to make a vigorous effort for the empire; but rinding
that his forces were far inferior to those of his brother, he applied to the
Knights Hospitallers at Rhodes for assistance, who resolved to concede
his demands, and Kent a squadron to escort him to Rhodes, where he was
received with all the honours due to a powerful sovereign. Bajazet, in
great alarm, hastened to negotiate a treaty with the Order; the Knights,
however, dared not violate the laws of hospitality by giving up Zizim;
but the Grand Master concluded a secret compact with the Sultan, in
which, for the annual pension of 45,000 ducats, he engaged to detain
the prince a prisoner. The subsequent fate of the unfortunate captive
was truly calamitous. He was held in durance for a long time in France,
constantly mocked with false, hopes, until Pope Innocent VIII. bribed
the Grand Master D'Aubusson with a cardinal's hat to resign to him the
guardianship of his profitable prisoner. In 1489 Zizim was removed
to Rome, where he was tormented by frequent proposals to change his
religion, all of which he peremptorily rejected. When Alexander Borgia
ascended the papal throne, he sent an embassy to the Sultan, demanding
the continuation of the pension for the custody of Zizim, and offering
also to put him to death lor 300,000 ducats, paid in one sum. Before an
answer could arrive from Constantinople, the Pope was forced to resign
his prisoner to Charles VIII., King of France; but Borgia soon procured
the death of the unfortunate prince by poison. After ten years' captivity
»uioug Christians, h: was murdered in 1495.
*• 2
68 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMLNES. H482.
tlie Turk's, who was then in France, in the custody of the
Knights of Rhodes, and is now at Rome, in the hands of
the Pope. From all which one may be able to judge of the
wisdom and greatness of our King, and of the great esteem
and character he bore in the world, when spiritual things,
dedicated to devotion and religion, were employed for the
lengthening of his life, as well as things temporal and
secular. But all endeavours to prolong his life proved in-
effectual ; his time was come, and he must needs follow his
predecessors. Yet in one thing God Almighty favoured
him in a peculiar manner, for, as he had made him more
prudent, liberal, and virtuous in all things than the contem-
porary princes, who were his neighbours and enemies, so he
coffered him to survive them, though not for a very long
;ime. For Charles Duke of Burgundy, the Duchess of
Vustria his daughter, King Edward of England, Duke Ga-
reas of Milan, and John King of Arragon, were all dead a
few years before him; but King Edward and the Duchess
of Austria died very shortly before his decease. In all of
them there was a mixture of bad as well as good, for they
were but mortals. But, without flattery, I may say of our
King, that he was possessed of more qualifications suitable
to the majesty and office of a prince than any of the rest,
for I had seen most of them, and knew the extent of their
abilities.
Ch. X. — How Kin? Louis sent for his Son Charles a little before his
Death; and the Precepts and Commands which he laid upon him and
others.
In the year 1482 the King desired to see the Dauphin his
son, whom he had not seen for several years; for besides his
being of opinion that it was better for his son's health to
have but few come near him, he was afraid lest he should
be taken out of his management, and made the occ ision
for some conspiracy against him, as had been done by himself
against his father, King Charles VII., when, at eleven* years
of age, he was taken away by some lords of the kingdom,
* Louis XI. was nearly seventeen years old at the time of the Pr*«
gueric, having been born in July, 1423.
1483.] THE KING SENDS FOR HIS SOK. 61
and engaged in a war called the Praguerie*, which lasted
not long, and was merely a court faction.
Ahove all things, he recommended to the Dauphin cer-
tain of his servants, and laid his commands expressly upon
him not to change any of his officers, declaring that upon
the death of his father Charles VII., and his own accession
to the throne, he had imprudently dismissed all the good
officers of the kingdom, hoth military and civil, who had
assisted his father in the conquest of Normandy and Guy-
enne, served him in the expulsion of the English, and con-
tributed much to the restoration of peace and tranquillity
throughout the kingdom ; which rash method of proceeding
proved highly to his prejudice, for it was the foundation of
the war called the Public Good, which I mentioned beforef?
and which had like to have cost him his crown. Soon after
the King had given this advice to his son, and concluded the
marriage | above mentioned, upon a Monday § the illness
seized him of which he died, and it lasted until the Saturday
following, the last day but one of August, 1483 ; I was
present at the termination of his illness, and therefore I
think myself entitled to say something of his death.
Not long after his being seized with this last fit, he was
deprived of his speech, as he had been formerly ; and though
he recovered that again, yet he found himself much weaker
than he had ever been (though indeed he was so weak before
that he had scarce strength to lift his hand to his mouth),
and he became so meagre and lean, that every one who saw
him pitied him. The King, perceiving he had not long to
live, sent for the Lord de Beau;eu (who had married his
daughter, and is now Duke of Bourbon), and commanded him
to »o to Amboise, to his son the king, as he called him. He
recommended his son to him, and all his servants, and gave
* The Praguerie (so called in allusion to the Hussite wars in Bohe-
mia) was a rebellion of the nobles against Charles VII., in consequence
of Irs having established a regular army, in order to drive the maraud-
ing free-companies out of the kingdom. The vigorous measures taken
by Charles to suppress this insurrection put an end to the war in lesa
than six months.
t Sec Book I. Chaps. 2 — 14. of these Memoirs.
£ The marriage of the Dauphin to the Princess Margaret of Flanders
§ Monday, the 25th of August, M83 The King died on Saturday,
the 30th of August
r d
70 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE C >MMINES. £1483.
him the charge and government of the young king, and
made him promise, for several good reasons, not to permit
certain persons to come near him ; and, if the Lord de
Leaujeu had observed his commands strictly, or at least the
best part of them, (for some were contradictory and not to
be observed,) I am of opinion, considering what has since
happened, it had been much better both for the kingdom and
himself.
Alter this he sent the chancellor*, with all that were
under him, to carry the seals to the king his son. He also
sent him some archers of his guard, several of his captains,
the officers of his hounds and hawks, and all others in charge
of his sports ; and he desired all that were going to Am-
boise to pay their respects to the king his son, to be faith-
ful and true to him ; and by every one he sent him some
message or other, hut more especially by Stephen de Versf,
who had brought up the young king, serving him in quality
of first gentleman- of his bed-chamber, and had been made
Bailiff of Meaux by King Louis. After the recovery of his
speech, his senses never failed him, and indeed were never
so quick, for he had a continual looseness upon him, which
kept the vapours from ascending to his head. In all his
sickness he never complained, as most other people do when
they are ill ; at least 1 am of that nature, and I have known
many of the same temper ; and the common opinion is that
complaining alleviates our pain.
Ch. XI. — A Comparison of the Troubles and Sorrows which King
Louis suffered, with those he had brought upon other People ; with a
Continuation of his Transactions till the Time of his Death. — 1483.
He was continually discoursing on some subject or another,
and always with a great deal of sense and judgment. His
* William, Lord of Roehcfort. See Vol. I. p. 16.
f Stephen de Vesc, knight, belonged to a noble family of Lower
Dauphiny. He was one of the chamberlains of Charles V11I., who ap-
pointed him Seneschal of Beaucaire and Jvismes, on the 3rd of March,
1490. He afterwards became President of the Chambei ot Accounts}
and was dignified with the bat^>n < f Constable of France on the King'a
entrance into Maples, lie died ou the 6ih of October, 1501.
1483.] the king's troubles. 71
last illness (as I said before) continued from Monday to
Saturday night. Upon which account I will now make
comparison between the evils and sorrows which he brought
upon others, and those which he suffered in his own person:
for I hope his torments here on earth, have translated him
into Paradise, and will be a great part of his purgatory :
and if, in respect of their greatness and duration, his suffer-
ings were inferior to those he had brought upon other people,
yet, if you consider the grandeur and dignity of his office,
and that he had never before suffered anything in his own
person, but had been obeyed by all people, as if all Europe
had been created for no other end, but to serve and be com-
manded by him ; yon will find that little which he endured
was so contrary to his nature and custom that it was more
grievous for him to bear.
His chief hope and confidence was placed in the good
hermit I spoke of (who was at Plessis, and had come thither
from Calabria) ; he sent continually to him, believing it
was in his power to prolong Lis life if he pleased; for, not-
withstanding all his precepts, he had great hopes of recover-
ing ; and if it had so happened, he would quickly have dis-
persed the throng he had sent to Amboise, to wait upon the
new king. Finding his hopes rested so strongly upon this
hermit, it was the advice of a certain grave divine*, and
others who were about him, that it should be declared to
him that there was no hope left for him but in the mercy of
God; and it was also agreed among them, that his physician,
Master James Coctier (in whom he had great confidence),
should be present when this declaration was made him. This
Coctier received of him every month ten thousand crowns,
in the hope that he would lengthen his life. This resolution
was taken to the end that he should lay aside all other
thoughts, and apply himself wholly to the settlement of his
conscience. And as he had advanced them, as it were, in an
instant, and against all reason, to employments beyond their
capacities, so they took upon them fearlessly to tell him a
thing that had been more proper for other people to com-
* M. (3c Barante (x. 82.) says this divine was Jean de Rely, doctor
in theology, and canon of Paris. Gabriel Naude asserts, on the con-
trary, that his name was Philippe, and that he was a monk of the Abhe^
ot S>t, Mania.
V 4
72 THE MEMOIRS OF PniLli" OE COMMINES. [1483.
municate ; nor did they observe that reverence and respect
towards him, which was proper in such a case, and would
have been used by those persons who had been brought up
with him, or by those whom, in a mere whim, he had re-
moved from court but a little before. But, as he had sent a
sharp message of death to two great persons whom lie had
formerly beheaded (the Duke of Nemours*, and the Count
of St. Paul f), by commissioners deputed on purpose, who
in plain terms told them their sentence, appointed them con-
fessors to arrange their consciences, and acquainted them
that in a few hours they must resolve to die ; so with the
same bluntness, and without the least circumstance of intro-
duction, these imprudent persons told our King : " Sire, we
must do our duty ; do not place your hopes any longer in
this holy hermit, or anything else, for you are a dead man.
Think therefore upon your conscience, for there is no remedy
left." Every one added some short saying to the same pur-
pose ; to which he answered, " I hope God will assist me,
for perhaps I am not so ill as you imagine."
What sorrow was this to him to hear this news ! Never
man was more fearful of death, nor used more means to pre-
vent it. He had, all his life long, commanded and requested
his servants, and me among the rest, that whenever we saw
him in any danger of death, we should not tell him of it, but
merely admonish him to confess himself, without ever men-
tioning that cruel and shucking word Death ; for he did not
believe he could ever endure to hear so cruel a sentence.
However, he endured that virtuously, and several more
things equally terrible, when he was ill; and indeed he bore
them better than any man I ever saw die. He spoke several
things, which were to be delivered to his son, whom he
called king ; and he confessed himself very devoutly, said
* See note, Vol. I. p. 1 6.
f See Book IV. Chap. 12. The constable's trial lasted from the 27th
of November, 1475, to the 19th of December following. His sentence
was read to him in these terms : — " You have been long in the custody of
the King, and you have been diligently interrogated with regard to the
extreme offences you have committed. The sentence of the Court of
Parliament against you is, that you be publicly beheaded and put to
death to-day on the Greve, opposite the Hotel de Ville." At these
words the constable cried aloud and said : " My God ! what news I
this is a hard sentence !" — Molinex, i. 183.
1 483. J the king's suspicions. 73
several prayers suitable to the sacraments he received, and
called for the sacraments himself. He spoke as judiciously as
if he had never been ill, discoursed of all things which might
be necessary for his son's instruction, and among the rest gave
orders that the Lord des Cordes should not stir from his
son for six months; and that he should be desired to attempt
nothing against Calais, or elsewhere, declaring, that though
he had designed himself to undertake such enterprises for
the benefit of both the king and the kingdom, yet they were
very dangerous, especially tliat against Calais, because the
English might resent it ; and he left it in especial charge,
that for five or six years after his death, they should, above
all things, preserve the kingdom in peace, which during his
life he had never suffered. And indeed it was no more thun
was necessary ; for, though the kingdom was large and fer-
tile, yet it was grown very poor, upon account of the march-
ing and counter-marching of the soldiers up and down, in
their passage from one country to another, as they have done
since, to an even worse extent. He also ordered that nothing
should be attempted against Bretagne, but that Duke Francis
should be suffered to live in peace; that both he and his
neighbours might be without fear, and the king and king-
dom remain free from wars, till the king should be of age,
to take upon himself the administration of affairs.
You have already heard with what indiscretion and blunt-
ness they acquainted the king with his approaching death ;
which I have mentioned in a more particular manner,
because in a preceding paragraph I began to compare the
evils, which he had made others suffer, who lived under his
dominion, with those he endured himself before his death ;
that it might appear that, though they were not perhaps of
so long a duration, yet they were fully as great and terrible,
considering his station and dignity, which required more
obedience than any private person, and had found more ; so
that i he least opposition was a great torment to him. Some
five or six months before his death, he began to suspect every-
body, especially those who were most capable and deserving
of the administration of affairs. He was afraid of his son,
and caused him to be kept close, so that no man saw or dis-
coursed with him, but by his special command. At last he
grew suspicious of his daughter, and of his son-in-law the
74 THE MEMOIRS OF PIIILIP DE COMMINES. [_1483
Duke of Bourbon, and required an account of what persons
came to speak with them at Plessis, and broke up a council
which the Duke of Bourbon was holding there, by his
order.
At the time that the Count of Dunois* and the said Duke
of Bourbon returned from conducting the ambassadors, who
had been at Amboise to attend the marriage of the Dauphin and
the young queen, the King being in the gallery at Plessis,
and seeing them enter with a great train into the castle,
called for a captain of the guards, and commanded him to go
and search the servants of those lords, to see whether they
had any arms under their robes ; and ordered him to do it
in discourse, so as no notice might be taken. Behold, then,
if he bad caused many to live under him in continual fear
and apprehension, whether it was not returned to him again;
for of whom could he be secure when he was afraid of his
son-in-law, his daughter, and his own son ? I speak this not
only of him, but of all other princes who desire to be feared,
that vengeance never falls on them till they grow old, and
then, as a just penance, they are afraid of everybody them-
selves ; and what grief must it have been to this poor King
to be tormented with such terrors and passions ?
He was still attended by his physician, Master James
Coctier, to whom in five months' time he had given fifty -four
thousand crowns in ready money, besides the bishopric of
Amiens for his nephewf, and other great offices and estates
for himself and his friends; yet this doctor used him very
roughly indeed ; one would not have given such outrageous
language to one's servants, as he gave the King, who stood in
such awe of him, that he durst not forbid him his presence. It
is true he complained of his impudenceafterwards, but he durst
not change him as he had done all the rest of his servants ;
because he had told him after a most audacious manner one
day, "I know well that some time or other you will dismiss me
* Francis of Orleans, Count of Longueville and Dunois, was born in
1447 ; married Agnes of Savoy; was appointed Governor of Dauphiny
by Charles VIII. in 1483, and Grand Chamberlain of France in 1485;
and died on the 25th of November. 1491. He was a son of the celebrated
Bastard of Orleans, so distinguished in the wars against the English in
the time of Joan of Arc.
f Pierre Verse, appointed to the bishopric of Amiens, on the 16th oi
August. 1482.
1483.] the king's cruelties. 73
from court, as you have done the rest ; but be sure (and he
confirmed it with a great oath) you shall not live eight days
sifter it* ;" with which expression the king was so terrified,
that ever after he did nothing but flatter and bribe him, which
must needs have been a great mortification to a prince who
had been humbly obeyed all his life by so many good and
brave men.
The King had ordered several cruel prisons to be made ;
some were cages of iron, and some of wood, but all were
covered with iron plates both within and without, with
terrible locks, about eight feet wide and seven high ; the first
contriver of them was the Bishop of Verdunf , who was
immediately put in the first of them that was made, where
he continued fourteen years. Many bitter curses he has had
since for his invention, and some from me as I lay in one of
them eight months together in the minority of our pre-
sent King. He also ordered heavy and terrible fetters to be
made in Germany, and particularly a certain ring for the
feet, which was extremely hard to be opened, and fitted like
an iron collar, with a thick weighty chain, and a great globe
of iron at the end of it, most unreasonably heavy, which
engines were called the King's Nets. However, I have seen
many eminent and deserving persons in these prisons, with
these nets about their legs, who afterwards came forth with
great joy and honour, and received great rewards from the
King. Among the rest, a sonj of the Lord de la Grutuse,
* The same, or nearly the same story is told of Tiberius, who demanded
of a soothsayer, Thrasullus, if lie knew the day of his own death, and re-
ceived for answer, it would take place just three days before that of the
emperor. On this reply, instead of being thrown over the roeks into
the sea, as bad been the tyrant's first intention, he was taken great care
of for the rest of his life. — Taciti Annates, vi. 21.
t Guillaume de Haraucourt. See Vol. I. p. 165.
X Jean i!e Bruges, Lord of Avelghem and Espiercs, and afterward£
Lord of La Gruthuse, and Prince of Steenhuys, in Flanders. He was
knighted by Duke Maximilian of Austria, on the 7th of August, 1479,
just before the battle of Guinegatte, in which he was taken prisoner.
Louis XI. afterwards appointed him one of his chamberlains, and mar-
ried him to Pence de Bueil, daughter of the Count of Sancerre. In
1484, Charles VIII. appointed him Seneschal of Anjou ; in 1498 he
was made Grand Master of the crossbow-men of France ; and in 1491
he was raised to the office of Captain of the Louvre. He died on tha
8th of August. 1512 Til regard to his father, see note, Vol, I. p. 193.
76 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIKES. [1483.
in Flanders (who was taken in battle), whom the king mar*
ried very honourably afterwards, made him his chamberlain,
and seneschal of Anjou, and gave him the command of a
hundred lances. The Lord de Piennes*, and the Lord de
Vergyf, both prisoners of war, also had commands given
them in his army, were made his or his son's chamberlains,
and had great estates bestowed on them. Monsieur de
RichebourgJ, the constable's brother, had the same good for-
tune, as did also one Roquebertin§, a Catalonian, likewise
prisoner of war ; besides others of various countries, too
numerous to be mentioned in this place.
This by way of digression. But to return to my principal
design. As in his time this barbarous variety of prisons
was invented, so before he died he himself was in greater
torment, and more terrible apprehension than those whom
he had imprisoned ; which I look upon as a great mercy
towards him, and as part of his purgatory ; and I have
mentioned it here to show that there is no person, of what
station or dignity soever, but suffers some time or other,
either publicly or privately, especially if he has caused other
people to suffer. The king, towards the latter end of his
days, caused his castle of Plessis-les-Tours to be encom-
passed with great bars of iron in the form of thick grating,
and at the four corners of the house four sparrow-nests of
iron, strong, massy, and thick, were built. The grates were
without the wall on the other side of the ditch, and sank to
the bottom. Several spikes of iron were fastened into the
wall, set as thick by one another as was possible, and each
furnished with three or four points. He likewise placed ten
bow-men in the ditches, to shoot at any man that durst
* Louis de Halewin, Lord of Piennes, having been made prisoner by
the French, some time after the siege of Neuss, entered the service of
Louis XL, who appointed him Captain of Montlhery in 1480. In 1486
Charles VIII. gave him the government of Bethune ; and in 1512
Louis XII. appointed him Governor and Lieutenant-Gencral of Picardy.
He died in 1518.
f The Lord of Vergy was made prisoner in 1477. See note, Vol. I
p. 362.
f. The Lord of Richebourg, brother of the Constable of St. Paul, was
made prisoner in 1475. See Vol- I. pp. 245 — 249.
§ Pierre de Roquebertin, Knight, Councillor and Chamberlain of Louil
XL Governor of iioussillon and Cerdague, and Lord of Sonimieres.
MS3.J CASTLE OF PLESSIS-1 ES-TOURS. 77
approach the castle before the opening of the gates ; and
lie ordered they should lie in the ditches, but retire to the
sparrow-nests upon occasion. lie was sensible enough that
tins fortification was too weak to keep out an army, or any
great body of men, but lie had no fear of such an attack ;
his great apprehension was, that some of the nobility of his
kingdom, having intelligence within, might attempt to make
themselves musters of the castle by night, and having pos-
sessed themselves partly of it by favour, and partly by force,
might deprive him of the regal authority, ami take upon
themselves the administration of public affairs; upon pre-
tence he was incapable of business, and no longer fit to
govern.
The gate of the Plessis was never opened, nor the draw-
bridge let down, before eight o'clock in the morning, at
which time the officers were let in ; and the captains ordered
their guards to their several posts, with pickets of archers
in the middle of the court, as in a town upon the frontiers
that is closely guarded: nor was any person admitted to
enter except by the wicket and with the king's knowledge,
unless it were the steward of his household, and such persons
as were not admitted into the royal presence.*
* Sir Walter Scott's description of the Royal Castle of Plessis is suffi-
ciently accurate to deserve insertion. " There were three external walls,
battlemented and turreted from space to space, and at each angle; the
second enclosure rising higher than the first, and being built so as to
command the exterior defence, in case it was won by the enemy ; and
being again, in the same manner, itself commanded by the third and
innermost barrier. Around the external wall was sunk a ditch ol
about twenty feet in depth, supplied with water by a dam-head on the
River Cher, or rather on one of its tributary branches. In front of the
second enclosure ihero ran another fosse, and a third of the same un-
usual dimensions was led between the second and the innermost enclo-
sure. The verge, both of the outer and inner circuit of this triple moat,
was strongly fenced with palisades of iron, serving the purpose of what
are called chevaux cle-fii.se in modern fortification ; the top of each pale
being divided into a cluster of sharp spikes, which seemed to render any
attempt to climb over an act of self-destruction.
" From within the innermost enclosure arose the castle itself, contain-
ing buildings of different periods, crowded around, and united with the
ancient and grim-looking donjon-keep, which was older than any of
them, and which rose like a black Ethiopian giant, high into the air,
while the absence of any windows larger than shot-holes, irregularly
disposed for defence, gave the spectator the same unpleasant feeliuij
78 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1483.
Is it possible then to keep a prince (with any regard to
his quality) in a closer prison than he kept himself? The
cages which were made for other people were about eight feet
square ; and he (though s<> great a monarch) had but a small
court of the castle to walk in, and seldom made use of that,
but generally kept himself in the gallery, out of which he
went into the chambers on his way to mass, but never passed
through the court. Who can deny that he was a sufferer
as well as his neighbours, considering how he was locked
up and guarded, afraid of his own children and relations,
and changing every day those very servants whom he had
brought up and advanced ; and though they owed all their
preferment to him, yet he durst not trust any of them, but
shut himself up in tnose strange chains and enclosures. If
the place where he confined himself was larger than a
common prison, he also was much greater than common
prisoners.
which we experience on looking at a blind man. The other buildings
seemed scarcely better adapted for the purposes of comfort, for the win-
dows opened to an inner and enclosed courtyard ; so that the whole
external front looked much more like that of a prison than a palace.
" This formidable place had but one entrance; at least none could be
seen along the spacious front, except where in the centre of the tirst and
outward boundary arose two strong towers, the usual defences of a
gateway, with their ordinary accompaniments, portcullis and draw-
bridge. Similar entrance-towers were visible on the second and third
bounding wall; but not on the same line with those on the outward cir-
cuit, because the passage did not cut right through the whole three en-
closures at the same point, but, on the contrary, those who entered had
to proceed nearly thirty yards betwixt the first and second wall, exposed,
if their purpose were hostile, to missiles from both ; and again, when the
second boundary was passed, they must make a similar digression from
the straight line, in order to attain the portal of the third and innermost
enclosure ; so that, before gaining the outer court, which ran along the
front of the building, two narrow and dangerous defiles were to be tra-
versed under a flanking fire of artillery, and three gates, defended in the
strongest manner known to the age, were to be successively forced.
" The environs of the castle, except the single winding path by which
the portal might be safely approached, were surrounded with every spe-
ties of hidden pitfall, snare, and gin, to entrap the wretch who should
renture thither without a guide ; and upon the walls were constructed
certain cradles of iron, called sparrow-nests, from which the sentinels,
h'ho were regularly posted there, could, without being exposed to any
risk, take deliberate aim at any who should attempt to enter without the
proper signal or piss-word of the de-y."
1483.] DEATH OF THE KING. 79
It may be urged (hat other princes have been more given
to suspicion than he, but it was not in our time; and, perhaps,
their wisdom was not so eminent, nor were their subjects so
good. They might too, probably, have been tyrants, and
bloody-minded ; but our king never did any person a mis-
chief who had not offended him first, though I do not say all
who offended him deserved death. I have not recorded
these things merely to represent our master as a suspicious
and mistrustful prince; but to show, that by the patience
which he expressed in his sufferings (like those which he
inflicted on other people), they may be looked upon, in my
judgment, as a punishment which our Lord inflicted upon
him in this world, in order to deal more mercifully with him
in the next, as well in regard to those things before-men-
tioned, as to the distempers of his body, which were great
and painful, and much dreaded by him before they came
upon him; and, likewise, that those princes who may be his
successors, may learn by his example to be more tender and
indulgent to their subjects, and less severe in their punish-
ments than our master had been : although I will not censure
him, or say I ever saw a better prince; for though he op-
pressed his subjects himself, he would never see them injured
by anybody else.
After so many fears, sorrows, and suspicions, God, by a
kind of miracle, restored him both in body and mind, as is
His divine method in such kind of wonders; for He took
him out of this miserable world in perfect health of mind,
and understanding, and memory; after having received the
sacraments himself, discoursing without the least twinge or
expression of pain, and repeating his paternosters to the
very last moment of his life. He gave directions * for his
own burial, appointed who should attend his corpse to the
* These directions will be found in Dupont, iii. 339 — 344. Master
Colin of Amiens is therein directed to represent the king " on his knees
on a cushion, with his dog beside him, his hat in his clasped hands, his
sword by his side, and his horn hanging behind his shoulders. Let him
be dressed in a hunting suit, with boots on his feet; and withal the
handsomest countenance you can make him, young and smooth; with
his nose nither long and turned-up a little, as you know, and do not
make him bald." This effigy was to be made of molten copper, and gilt
with ducat gold; and the sum to be paid for it was a thousand gold
crowns.
80 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1483.
grave, and declared that he desired to die on a Saturday of
all days in the week ; and that lie hoped Our Lady would
procure him that favour, for in her he had always placed
great trust, and served her very devoutly. And so it hap-
pened ; for he died on Saturday, the 30th of August, 1483,
at about eight in the evening, in the Castle of Plessis, where
his illness seized him on the Monday before. May Our
Lord receive his soul, and admit it unto His kingdom of
Paradise !
*}h XTI. — A Digression concerning the Miseries of Mankind, especially
of Princes, by the Example of those who reigned in the Author's
Time, and chiefly of King Louis.
Small hopes and comfort ought poor and inferior people to
have in this world, considering what so great a king suffered
and underwent, and how he was at last forced to leave all, and
could not, with all his care and diligence, protract his life one
single hour. I knew him, and was entertained in his service
in the flower of his age, and at the height of his prosperity,
yet I never saw him free from labour and care. Of all diver-
sions he loved hunting and hawking in their seasons ; but his
chief delight was in dogs. As for ladies, he never meddled
with any in my time ; for about the time of my coming to
his court he lost a son*, at whose death he was extremely
afflicted, and he made a vow to God in my presence never to
have intercourse with any other woman but the queen ; and
though this was no more than what he was bound to do by
the canons of the church, yet it was much that his self-com-
mand should be so great, that he should be able to persevere
in his resolution so firmly, considering that the queen (though
an excellent princess in other respects) was not a person in
whom a man could take any great delight.
In hunting, his eagerness and pain were equal to his plea-
sure, for his chase was the stag, which he always ran down.
* This son's name was Joachim. He was born on Tuesday, the 17th
of July, 1459, at the Castle of Genappes ; and he died on the 29th of
Jiuvciuber in th". same year.
M83.] CHARACTER OF LOUIS XL 81
He rose very early in the morning, rode sometimes a great
distance, and would not leave his sport, let the weather be
never so bad ; and when he came home at night he was often
very weary, and generally in a violent passion with some ot
his courtiers or huntsmen ; for hunting is a sport not always
to be managed according to the master's direction ; yet, in
the opinion of most people, he understood it as well as any
prince of his time. He was continually at these sports,
lodging in the country villages to which his recreations led
him, till he Avas interrupted by business ; for during the
most part of the summer there was constantly war between
him and Charles Duke of Burgundy, and in the winter
they made truces.
He was also involved in some trouble about the county of
Roussillon, with John, King of Arragon, father of Peter of
Castile, who at present is King of Spain ; for though both
of them were poor, and already at variance with their sub-
jects in Barcelona and elsewhere, and though the son had
nothing but the expectation of succeeding to the throne of
Don Henry of Castile, his wife's brother (which fell to him
afterwards), yet they made considerable resistance ; for that
province being entirely devoted to their interest, and they
being universally beloved by the people, they gave our king
abundance of trouble, and the war lasted till his death, and
many brave men lost their lives in it, and his treasury was
exhausted by it ; so that he had but a little time during the
whole year to spend in pleasure, and even then the fatigues
he underwent were excessive. When his body was at rest
his mind was at work, for he had affairs in several places at
once, and would concern himself as much in those of his
neighbours as in his own, putting officers of his own over
all the great families and endeavouring to divide their
authority as much as possible. When he was at war he
laboured for a peace or a truce, and when he had obtained
it, he was impatient for war again. He troubled himself
with many trifles in his government, which he had better
have let alone : but it was his temper, and he could not help
it ; besides, he had a prodigious memory, and he forgot no-
thing, but knew everybody, as well in other countries as in
his own.
Ami, in truth, he jeemed better fitted to rile a world than
VOL. II. Q
82 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMLNFS [1483
to govern a single kingdom. I speak not of his minority, for
then I was not with him ; but when he was eleven years
old, he was, by the advice of some of the nobility, and others
of his kingdom, embroiled in a war with his father, Charles
VII., which lasted not long, and was called the Praguerie.
When he was arrived at man's estate, he was married, much
against his inclination, to the King of Scotland's daughter*;
and he regretted her existence during the whole couise of
her life. Afterwards, by reason of the broils and factions in
his father's court, he retired into Dauphinyt (which was his
own), whither many persons of quality followed him, and
indeed more than he could entertain. During his residence
in Dauphiny he married the Duke of Savoy's daughter |,
and not long after he had great disputes with his father-
in-law, and a terrible war was begun between them. His
father, King Charles VII., seeing his son attended by so
many good officers, and raising men at his pleasure, resolved
to go in person against him, with a considerable body of
forces, in order to disperse them. "While he was upon his
march he put out proclamations, requiring them all, as his
subjects, under great penalties, to repair to him ; and many
obeyed, to the great displeasure of the Dauphin, who, finding
his father incensed, though he was strong enough to resist,
resolved to retire, and leave that country to him ; and ac-
cordingly he removed, with but a slender retinue, into Bur-
gundy, to Duke Philip's court, who received him honourably,
furnished him nobly, and maintained him§ and his principal
* Margaret, daughter of James I., King of Scotland. She was mar-
ried to the Dauphin on the 24th of June, 1436; and died on the 16th
of August, 1444. Her lot in France was singularly wretched, as she
was treated by her husband with marked contempt and dislike. The
story of her adventure with Alain Chartier is well known. Finding the
famous poet asleep in a saloon of the palace, she stooped down and kissed
him, observing to her ladies, who were somewhat astonished at her pro-
ceeding, that she did not kiss the man, but the mouth which had uttered
so many fine things.
f In the year 1446. See Vol. I. p. 60.
J Charlotte, daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy, was married to the
Dauphin in March, 1451; and died on the 1st of December, 1483.
§ The Duke of Burgundy granted the Dauphin a monthly pension of
2000 francs; to theDauphiness he allowed 1000 gold crowns per month;
to the Lord of Montauban, 500 crowns; to the Marshal of Dauphiny, a
similar sum; and to others according to their degiee.
1483.] CHARACTER OF LOCIS XI. 83
servants (as the Count de Comminges*, the Lord de Mon-
taubanf, and others), by way of pensions, and to the rest he
gave presents, as he saw occasion, during the whole time of
their residence there. However, the Dauphin entertained sa
many at his own expense, that his money often failed, to his
great disgust and mortification ; for he was forced to bor-
row J, or his people would have forsaken him, which is
certainly a great affliction to a prince who was utterly unac-
customed to those straits. So that during his residence at
the court of Burgundy he had his anxieties, for he was con-
strained to cajole the duke and his ministers, lest they should
think he was too burdensome, and had laid too long upon
their hands, for he had been with them six§ years, and his
father, King Charles, was constantly pressing and soliciting
the Duke of Burgundy, by his ambassadors, either to deliver
him up to him, or to banish him out of his dominions. || And
this, you may believe, gave the Dauphin some uneasy thoughts,
and would not suffer him to be idle. In which season of his
life, then, was it that he may be said to have enjoyed himself?
I believe from his infancy and innocence to his death, his
whole life was nothing but one continued scene of troubles
and fatigues ^f; and I am of opinion, that if all the days
* John, Bastard of Armagnac, was created Count of Coraminges and
Marshal of France in 1461, and died in 1473.
f See Vol. I. p. 19.
j He once borrowed thirty crowns from the Lord de Sassenage, to
whom he gave the following receipt: "We, Louis, eldest son of the King
of France, Dauphin of Viennois, confess that we owe to James, Lord
of Sassenage, the sum of thirty crowns for a black horse, which he has
handed over and delivered, by our order, to Henry Guerin, to whom we
have given it: which sum of thirty crowns we promise to pay him before
Christm s next. In witness whereof we have signed these presents."
The Dauphiness, on her accession to the throne of France, was obliged
to borrow the palfreys of the Countess of Charolais for her journey. —
Dlpont, ii. 275.
§ He remained there only five years.
|| On learning the reception given to Louis by the Duke of Burgundy,
Charles VII. said: " Our brother Philip has taken home a fox who will
eat his chickens."
% Chastellain (129.) reports this speech of Louis XI. on his accession
to the crown : " Only yesterday I held myself to be the poorest son of a
king that ever was, and one who, from my infancy to the present day.
have had nought but suffering and tribulation, poverty, anguish, and
want; and, what is more, expulsion from my inheritance, and loss of my
6 2
84 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINFS. [1483.
of his life were computed in which his joys and pleasures
outweighed his pain and trouble, they would be found so
few, that there would be twenty mournful ones to one plea-
sant. He lived about sixty-one years, yet he always fancied
he should never outlive sixty, giving this for a reason, that
for a long time no king of France had lived beyond that
age. Some say, since the time of Charlemagne; but the
king our master was far advanced in his sixty-first year.*
What ease or what pleasure did Charles, Duke of Bur-
gundy, enjoy more than our master King Louis ? In his
youth, indeed, he had less trouble, for he did not begin to
enter upon any action till nearly the two-and-thirtieth year
of his age ; so that before that time he lived in great ease
and quiet. His first quarrel was with his father's chief
otneers ; and as his father took their part, he immediately
withdrew from court, and retired into Holland f, where being
well received, he fell immediately into intelligence with the
Gantois, and went and visited his father sometimes. He had
no allowance from his father ; but Holland, being a rich
country, made him great presents, as did several other great
towns, hoping thereby to insinuate themselves into his favour,
and reap the advantage after Duke Philip's death. And it
is the common custom of the world to worship the rising
sun, and court him whose future authority will be great,
rather than him who is already at the height of his fortune,
and can never be higher. For this reason, when Duke
Philip was informed that the Gantois had expressed great
kindness for his son, and that he understood how to manage
them, he answered, " They always love him who is to be
their sovereign ; but as soon as he is their lord they will
hate him." And his saying was true, for from the time of
Duke Philip's death and Charles's accession, their love began
to decline, and they showed it openly, and he, on the other
side, cared as little for them ; yet they did more mischief
to his posterity than they could possibly do to him.
father's love, so as to be obliged, my wife and myself, to live by borrow-
ing and begging, without a foot of land, a house to cover us, or a penny
in our pockets, except by the goodness and charity of my good uncle,
who has maintained, me thus for the space of five years ''
* The exact age of Louis XI. at the time of his death was sixty
years, one month, and twenty-seven days.
f In the year 1462.
1483.] EXAMPLE OF KING EDWARD IV So
But to continue these Memoirs. From the time Duke
Charles undertook his war to recover the towns in Picardy,
(which our master had redeemed from Duke Philip), and
joined himself with the lords of the kingdom in the war
called the Public Good, what pleasure, what tranquillity had
he? He had continual trouble and labour, without the least
cessation or refreshment, either to his body or mind ; for
glory got entire possession of his heart, and constantly
spurred him on to attempt new conquests. He was always
in the field during summer, exposing his person to the
greatest danger, taking the care and command of the whole
army upon himself; and yet he thought his work too little.
He was the first that rose, and the last that went to bed in
the camp ; and he slept in his clothes, like the poorest foot-
soldier in the army. In winter, when the campaign was
Dver, he was busily employed about raising money; six
hours every morning he set apart for conferences, and i'or
giving audience to ambassadors; and in this perpetual hurry
of affairs he ended his days, and was killed by the Swiss in
the battle of Nancy, as you have already heard ; so that it
cannot be said that he enjoyed one happy day from the time
of his beginning to aggrandise himself to the hour of his
death ; and then what were the fruits of all his pains and
labour? Or what necessity was there of his doing so?
since he was a rich prince, and had towns and territories
large enough already to have made him happy, if he could
have been contented with them.
The next prince whom we shall have occasion to mention
is Edward IV., King of England, a great and powerful
monarch. In his minority he saw his father the Duke of
York* defeated and slain in battle, and with him the father •(■
of the Earl of Warwick, who governed the king in his youth,
and managed all his affairs ; and, to say the truth, it was the
Earl of Warwick who made Edward king, and dethroned
his old master, King Henry VI., who had reigned many
years in England, and (in my judgment, and the judgment
of the world,) was the lawful king; but, in such cases,
Ihe disposal of kingdoms and great states is in the hands of
• See Vol. I. p. 48.
f Richard Neville, Earl of Westm* relnud and Salisbury
o 3
86 THE MEMOIRS OF PniLIP DE COMMINES. [1483
God, who orders them as He pleases, for indeed all things
proceed from Him. The reason of the Earl of Warwick's
espousing the interest of the House of York against King
Henry, who was of the Lancastrian family, was upon a
difference that happened at court betwixt the Duke of So-
merset and the Earl of Warwick. The king not having
wisdom enough to compose it, it grew to that height that the
queen* (who was of the house of Anjou, and daughter to
Rene, King of Sicily") interposed in it, and inclined to the
duke's party against the Earl of Warwick ; for all had ac-
knowledged Henry, his father, and his grandfather, for their
lawful kings. The queen would have acted much more
prudently in endeavouring to have adjusted the dispute be-
tween them than in saying, "I am of this party, and will
maintain it ;" and it proved so by the event, for it occasioned
many battles in England, and a war which continued nine-
and-twenty years f ; and in the end nearly all the partisans
of both sides were destroyed ; so that factions and parties
are very perilous and fatal, especially to the nobility, who
are too prone to propagate and foment them. If it be alleged
that by this means both parties are kept in awe, and the
secret minds of his subjects are discovered to the prince, I
agree that a young prince may encourage faction among his
ladies, and it may be pleasant and diverting enough, and may
give him opportunity of finding out some of their intrigues;
but nothing is so dangerous to a nation as to nourish such
factions and partialities among men of courage and magna-
nimity; it is no less than setting one's own house on fire ;
for immediately some or other cry out, " The king is against
us," seize upon some fortified town, and correspond with his
enemies. And certainly the factions of Orleans and Bur-
gundy ought to make us wise on this point ; for they began
a war which lasted seventy-two years J, in which the English
were concerned, and thought by those unhappy divisions to
have conquered the kingdom.
* Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Rene, King of Naples and Sicily.
She was born on the 23rd of March, 1429; married to King Henry VL
in 1444; and died on the 25th of August, 1482.
•f The first battle was fought in 1455, and the last in 147 1. See Vol. I
p. 181.
X See Vol. L p. 273
1483.] EXAMPLE OF MATTHIAS I. OF HUNGARY. 87
But to return from this digression. King Edward was a
very voung prince, and one of the handsomest men of his
age, at the time lie had overcome all his difficulties ; so he
gave himself up wholly to pleasures, and took no delight in
anything but ladies, dancing, entertainments, and the chase;
and in this voluptuous course of life, if I mistake not, he
spent ahout sixteen years, till the quarrel happened between
him and the Earl of Warwick. In which contest, though
tho king was driven out of the kingdom, yet his misfortune
lasted not long ; for he quickly returned, obtained a victory,
and afterwards fell again to his pleasures, and indulged him-
self in them more recklessly than before. From this time
he feared nobody; but he grew very fat, and his excess in-
clining him to diseases, in the very flower of his age, he died
suddenly (as it was reported) of an apoplexy*, and his family
perished after him (as you have heard), as regarded the suc-
cession in the male line.
In our time also, there reigned two wise and valiant
princes, Matthias, King of Hungary t, and Mahomet Otto-
man, Emperor of the Turks. J This King Matthias was the
son of a very valiant gentleman, called the White Knight
of Wallachia §, a person of great honour and prudence, who
*
This is the third explanation given by Commines of the cause of
Edward's death. At Vol. I. p. 394., he says he died of melancholy, and
at p. 62. of this volume he ascribes his decease to a catarrh. Apoplexy
is the most probable explanation of the event.
f Matthias I., surnamed Corvinus, was the son of John Hunniades,
and was proclaimed King of Hungary in 1458, at the age of sixteen
years. He reigned for thirty- two years with considerable reputation, to
which his patronage of learned men, who repaid his munificence with
very profuse eulogies, did not a little contribute. He died in 1490.
J Mahomet II., son of Amurath IL, was proclaimed Sultan in 1451,
and died in 1481. He is usually distinguished by European historians
by the title of Mahomet the Great, first Emperor of the Turks. His
reign was signalised by the capture of Constantinople, and the fall of
the Byzantine empire.
§ John Hunniades, Voyvode of Transylvania, was Regent of Hun-
gary during the minority of King Ladislaus. This hero stood in the
breach for twelve years against the Turkish power, frequently defeated.
but unconquered in defeat. " If the renown of Hunniades," says Mr.
Hallam, "may seem exaggerated by the partiality of writers who lived
under the reign of his son, it is confirmed by more unequivocal evi-
dence, by the dread and hatred of the Turks, whose children were taught
obedience by threatening them with his name, and by the deference of a
G 4
88 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1483
for a long time had governed the kingdom of Hungary, and
had gained several battles over the Turks, who are neigh-
bours to that country, by reason of the territories which
they have usurped in Sclavonia, Bosnia, and Greece. Not
long after his death, Lancelot * came to man's estate, who was
heir to that kingdom, and to the kingdoms of Bohemia and
Poland besides. This Lancelot was advised by some persons
(as was reported) to seize upon the two sons of the White
Knight, on the pretence that, as their father had obtained
and exercised so much power and authority in that kingdom
during his infancy, it was not improbable that his sons might
do the same. Upon which the said Lancelot resolved to
have them both apprehended, which was accordingly done.
He put the eldest f to death, and sent the other, which was
Matthias, a prisoner to Buda, the chief town in Hungary ;
but he did not remain long in confinement (God Almighty
being perhaps pleased with the services of his father), for,
awhile after, King Lancelot was poisoned at Prague, in
Bohemia, by a lady of quality (whose brother I have seen),
with whom he had been in love, and she with him ; but
being incensed at his intended marriage in France, with the
jealous aristocracy to a man of no distinguished birth." Hunniades was
a Wallachian, of a small family. His last and most splendid service
was the relief of Belgrade. That strong city was besieged by Ma-
homet II., three years after the fall of Constantinople; its capture would
have laid open all Hungary. A tumultuary army, chiefly collected by
the preaching of a friar, was entrusted to Hunniades. He penetrated
into the city, and having repulsed the Turks in a fortunate sally, wherein
Mahomet was wounded, had the honour of compelling him to raise the
siege in confusion. The relief of Belgrade was more important in its
effects than in its immediate circumstances: it revived the spirits of
Europe, which had been appalled by the unceasing victories of the
infidels. Mahomet himself seemed to acknowledge the importance of
the blow, and seldom afterwards attacked the Hungarians. Hunniades
died in 1456, soon after this achievement.
* Ladislaus V., King of Hungary, was the posthumous son of Albert,
Duke of Austria, who acquired the crown of Hungary for his progeny
by marrying Elizabeth, daughter of the Emperor Sigismund. Ladislaus
was born on the 22nd of February, 1440; became king on the 13th of
February, 1453; and died on the 23rd of November, 1457.
f Ladislaus, the eldest son of John Hunniades, was beheaded on the
8th of March, 1456, for having assassinated the Count of Cillei during
the preceding year.
1483.] REIGN OF MATTHU.S I DF HUNGARY. 89
daughter* of King Charles VII. (called now the Princess of
Vienne), which was contrary to his engagement to her, she
poisoned him in a bath, by giving him an apple to eat, and
conveying poison into the haft of his knife. Upon the death
of Lancelot, the barons of Hungary assembled at Buda for
the election of* a king, according to an ancient privilege
which they have, to elect their king when his predecessor
has died without issue. Whilst they were mightly divided,
and in great controversy about the election, the widow of
the White Knight, and mother of Matthias, entered the
town with a very splendid equipage ; for she was very rich,
esp cially in ready money, which her husband had left her,
by means of which she was able, to raise men immediately ;
and, besides, it is not improbable that she had partisans in
the town, and among the electors, upon account of the in-
fluence and authority her husband had had in that kingdom.
As soon as she came into the city, she marched directly to
the prison, and released her son ; upon which some of the
barons and prelates who were assembled fled in terror out of
the town, and those that remained chose Matthias for their
king ; and he reigned among them in great prosperity, with
as much applause and esteem as any of his predecessors, and
in some things with even more. Pie was a man of as much
courage as any of that age, and obtained many signal vic-
tories over the Turks, without any loss to his kingdom, which
he much enlarged, as well towards Turkey as towards Bohe-
mia (most of which was in his possession ), and also in Wal-
lachia (where he was born) and Sclavonia ; and on the side
towards Germany he took the greatest part of Austria from
the Emperor Frederic, and kept it till his death, which hap-
pened in Vienna, the chief city of Austria, in the year 1491.
He was a prince who managed his affairs discreetly, both in
peace and in war. Towards the latter end of his days, find-
ing he was become formidable, he began to affect a pompous
and splendid way of living, and provided great store of rich
hangings, jewels, and plate, for the adornment of his palace.
Alibis business was dispatched by himself, or by his direc-
* Madelaine of France, daughte. of King Charles VII., was born on
the 1st of December, 1443. and betrothed to the King of Hungary in
1457. In 1461 she married Gaston de Foix, Prince of Viane; and she
died in 1486.
90 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1483,
tion : lie had also an inclination to make himself terrible to
liis own subjects, and became a very tyrant towards his latter
end ; after which he fell into a grievous and incurable dis-
temper, as it were in his youth (for he was but eight-and-
twenty* years of age), and died: his life having been one
continued scene of labour and sorrow, without any great
pleasure or ease.
The Turk, whom I mentioned before, was a wise and
valiant prince, but he made more use of his cunning than of
his courage. His father f also was a valiant prince, who took
Adrianople (that is to say, the city of Adrian), ami left his
son very great ; and this son, at the age of twenty-three,
took Constantinople!, or the city of Constantine ; I have
seen Ids portrait painted at that age, which represented him
vigorous and sprightly. It was a great disgrace to all
Christendom to suffer that city to be lost ; he took it by
assault, and the Emperor of the East§ (whom we called
Emperor of Constantinople) was slain in the breach. Many
brave men were killed with him in this assault, many great
ladies ravished, and no manner of cruelty was omitted. This
was his first exploit, but he continued to perform great ac-
tions, and so many, that I heard a Venetian ambassador say
once in the presence of Charles, Duke of Burgundy, that this
Mahomet had conquered two empires, four kingdoms, and
two hundred cities; he meant, indeed, the empires of Con-
* As might have been expected, from his having no personal know-
ledge of Hungarian affairs, Commines falls into many inaccuracies about
Matthias Corvinus, who was forty-eight years old when he died, in the
year 1490. His election to the kingdom is to be ascribed far less to any
intrigues of his mother than to the aversion felt by the Hungarian nobles
to the character and Austrian connections of the Emperor Frederic III.,
the other candidate for the crown.
f Amurath II. succeeded his father Mahomet I. in 1421, and died in
1451.
f; The siege of Constantinople began on the 6th of April, 1453, and
the city was taken on the 29th of May following. — See Gibbon's
Roman Empire, chap. 68.
§ Constantine Palseologus XIV., sur named Dragases, was born in
February, 1403, and succeeded to his fathers throne in November, 1448.
He fought bravely in defence of his capital, and when he found resist-
ance unavailing, " he folded around him the imperial mantle, and re-
membered ths name which he represeoted in the dignity of heroic
death."
1483.] EXAMPLE OF MAHOMET THE GREAT 91
ptantinople and Trebizond * ; the kingdoms of Bosnia, Syria,
Armenia, and I think Morea was the fourth. He conquered
likewise many fair islands in the Archipelago (where the Vene-
tians have twof settlements), among others, Negropont and
Mitylene ; besides which he subdued nearly all Albania and
Sclavonia : and as his conquests were great over the
Christians, so were they no less considerable over those of
hi3 own religion, among whom he destroyed several great
princes, as the Prince of CaramaniaJ, and others.
The greatest part of his affairs were transacted by himself,
according to the practice of our king and of the king of
Hungary : and these three were without all dispute the
wisest princes that had reigned for a hundred years. But
the generosity of our master's conversation, and his libera-
lity to his servants, as well as to foreigners and others, dis-
tinguished him very much from the other two ; and it is no
wonder, for he was styled the most Christian King. As to
worldly pleasures and enjoyments, this Turk had his share,
and spent most of his time in them ; and, indeed, he would
have done more mischief to Christendom, had he not been
so employed. He indulged himself in all kinds of sensuality,
and was strangely given to gluttony, which brought him
numberless diseases, which continued upon him as long as he
lived. Every spring he had a swelling in his legs, that
made them as big as a man's waist (as I have heard from
those who have seen it) ; and the swelling never broke, but
dispersed of its own accord, and no surgeon could tell what
to make of it, but all agreed his gluttony was the occasion of
it, though perhaps it was a judgment from heaven ; and one
reason why he suffered himself to be seen so seldom, and
kept himself shut up in his seraglio, was, lest he should dis-
cover that infirmity, and grow contemptible to his subjects.
He died about the fifty-second year of his age, and suddenly;
yet he made a will, and I have seen it, and, if it be true, he
• The empire of Trebizond was overthrown by Mahomet in 1461.
f The Venetian settlements of Modon and Coron in the Morea were
surrendered to the Turks in the year 1500.
% Caramania, a province of Asiatic Turkey, on the south of Anatolia.
Its emirs were formerly powerful princes; but Mahomet II. greatly
weakened them in 1440, and his son Bajazet i icorporated their domi«
nioiis with the Turkish empire in 1488.
92 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1483
seemed to have some remorse for a tax which he had lately
laid upon his subjects. Let Christian princes therefore con-
sider what they do, since they have no reasonable power to
raise money, without the permission and consent of their
people.
Thus have you seen the death of many illustrious persons
in a short time, who had borne so much sorrow, and endured
so many fatigues, only to extend their dominions, and ad-
vance their fame and glory, as perhaps tended not only to
the shortening of their lives, but to the endangering the
welfare of their immortal souls. I am not speaking here of
the Turk, for I question not but that he is gone to his prede-
cessors, but of our king and the rest, on whom I hope God
will have mercy. But to speak freely (as one that is no
great scholar or genius, but has had some experience in the
world), would it not have been better for them, and for all
other great princes and subjects whatever, to choose a middle
course in all their desires ; that is, not to be so solicitous
and careful about temporal things, and have such vast and
unreasonable designs in view ; but to be more cautious
of offending God, oppressing their subjects, and invading
their neighbours, by so many cruel and unchristian ways, as
I have mentioned before, and rather employ their time in
tranquillity and innocent diversions? Their lives would be
longer, their infirmities the later in coming, their deaths less
desirable to other people, and less terrible to themselves.
Can we desire any clearer examples to prove how poor and
inconsiderable a creature man is, how short and miserable
his life, and how little difference there is betwixt princes
and private persons, since as soon as they are dead, whether
rich or poor, their bodies become abominable, all people fly
and shun them, and their souls are no sooner separated but
they prepare to receive their doom, which is given by God
at that very instant of time, according to every man's works,
fcnd bodily deserts.
1484. REIGN OF KING CHARLES VIII. 93
BOOK THE SEVENTH.
CH- I. — How Duke Rene of Lorraine came into France to demand the
Duchy of Bar and the County of Provence, which King Charles had
in His Possession; and how he failed to obtain the Kingdom of
Naples, to which he laid Claim as well as the King; and what Eight
each had thereto. — 1484 — 6.
To continue these Memoirs, which were begun by me, Philip
de Commines, concerning the exploits and reign of our late
king, Louis XL (whom God absolve!), I will now give you
an account how it came to pass that his son, Charles VIII.,
undertook his expedition into Italy, in which I was engaged.
The king set out from Vienne*, in Dauphiny, on the 23rd of
August, 1494, and returned into his kingdom in October of
the year 1495. Before he undertook this enterprise, it was
warmly debated whether he should go or not, for by all per-
sons of experience and wisdom it was looked upon as a very
dangerous undertaking ; nor indeed was anybody in favour
of it but himself, and one Stephen de Vers, a native of Lan-
guedoc, a man of mean extraction, and who had never seen or
had the least knowledge of military affairs. It was also pro-
moted at first by one Brissonet f, who was one of the generals
of the finances, but his heart soon failed him. However.
* Charles VIII. set out from Grenoble, on his journey into Italy, on
tin- 29th of August, 1494. He had previously resided for four months
at Vienne, and left that city for Grenoble on the 23rd of August, as is
stated in the text.
t Guillaume Briconnet was the son of Jean Briconnet, Lord of
Varennes, Secretary to the King, and Receiver-General of the Finances.
He at first embraced his father's profession, and was appointed General
of the Finances in Languedoc by Louis XI. In 1490 he was installed
in the bishopric of St. Malo, and created Chief Superintendent of the
Finances. In 1495 he received a cardinal's hat; in 1497 he was
translated to the archbishopric of Rheims, and performed the ceremony
of consecrating Louis XIL ; and he died at Narbonne, of which he wsw
archbishop, in 1514.
94 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [148L
this expedition turned much to his advantage afterwards, for
he obtained great preferment in the church, was made a
cardinal, and was endowed with several benefices. De Vers
had acquired a plentiful estate before, and was seneschal of
Beaucaire, and president of the accounts at Paris, for he had
served the King in his youth faithfully, in quality of gentle-
man of the bed-chamber ; and, by his persuasion, Monsieur
Brissonet was brought over to his party, so that they two
were the chief promoters of this expedition, for which few
persons praised them, and many censured them ; because not
only were all things necessary for so great an enterprise
wanting, but the king was young, foolish, and obstinate,
without either money, officers, or wise councillors. So tliat
before he began his march he was forced to borrow a hun-
dred thousand francs from the bank of Soly at Genoa* at
an extravagant interest, and from mart to mart, besides what
he collected in other places, as you shall hear hereafter.
They had neither tents nor pavilions, though it was winter
when the army entered into Lombardy: one thing, indeed,
was very handsome, and that was a brigade of young gentle-
men, who were lively and brisk, but under little command
or discipline. So that we may conclude this whole expedi-
tion, both going and coming, was conducted purely by God;
for, as I said before, the wisdom of the contrivers of this
scheme contributed but little. However, they may boast of
this, that they were the occasion of highly advancing the
honour and glory of their king.
As soon as the King was fourteen or fifteen years old, at
which age he was crowned f, the Duke of Lorraine;}: came
to him to demand the duchy of Bar, which King Louis XL
had kept from him, and the county of Provence, which King
* By letters patent, issued at Lyons on the 30th of April. 1494,
Charles VIII. authorises Master Pierre de Lignac to receive and distri-
bute at Milan a sum of 20,000 ducats " for the payment of the troops
we are raising in that neighbourhood to serve in our army for the con-
quest of our kingdom of Naples." This money was borrowed from
the bank of Paul Sauli at Genoa, as is proved by a receipt in the
writing of Pierre de Lignac, which still exists, and is printed in Du-
pont, ii. 292.
t Charles VIII. was born on the 30th of June, 1470, and consecrated
at Eheims on the 30th of May, 1484.
X liene II. See note, Vol. L p. 242.
1481.] BAR RESTORED TO THE DUKE OF LORRAINE. 95
Charles of Anjou, his cousin-german, dying without issue,
left to Louis XL by his last will and testament.* The Duke
of Lorraine laid claim to it, as being son to the daughter of
Rene, King of Sicily, Duke of Anjou, and Count of Pro-
fence, and alleged that the King of Sicily had highly injured
aim, for that the said Charles of Anjou was but his nephew,
ion of his brother, the Count du Maine, whereas he was
descended from his daughter. But King Charles pretended
that Provence could not be transferred by will to a daughter.
The conclusion of this affair was, Bar was restored for a sum
of money, which the king demanded; and the Duke of
Lorraine being in great favour, and having many friends at
court (especially John, Duke of Bourbon, who was old, and
desirous to marry his sister t), had a lucrative post J, and
the command of a hundred lances given him by the king,
and a pension of thirty-six thousand francs for four years §,
during which time his title to Provence was to be examined
into. I was one of the council || which was chosen for this
purpose, partly by the King's relations, and partly by the
three Estates of the kingdom. Stephen de Vers, whom I men-
tioned before, and who had got some estate in Provence, and
vvho had in his head the expedition to Naples, persuaded the
King, young as he was, to declare (in the presence of his
sister, the Duchess of Bourbon %) to the Count de Com-
* Dated December 10, 1481. See Lenglet, iii. 334.
f Of the three sisters of the Duke of Lorraine, two only were living
in 1484; namely, Yolande, who married the Landgrave of Hesse in
1496; and Margaret, who married Rene, Duke of Alencon, in 1488.
As the Duke of Bourbon did not lose his second wife, Catherine of
Armagnac, until March, 1487, he must, if Commines be right, have
formed the project of a matrimonial alliance with the Duke of Lorraine
during her lifetime.
t By letters patent, dated on the 7th of August, 1486. King Charles
VIII. appointed the Duke of Lorraine his Grand Chamberlain, "with
all the perquisites and pre-eminence attaching to the office."
§ This pension was to become due on and after the 1st of October,
1483.
|| The Lord of Argenton was included in the List of Councillors of
the King, drawn up immediately after the death of Louis XL He was
also one of the fifteen persons suggested to the States-General as most
worthy to constitute the council of the young King. — Masselin, 123.
■[[ She did not obtain the title of Duchess of Bourbon until after the
death of her brotuer-iu-law John II., which occuwel on the 1st of
April, 1488
96 THE MEMOIRS OF THILIP DE COMMINES. [l4S4s
minges, the Lord du Lau (who were both likewise of the
council), and myself, that we should have a care he did not
lose the county of Provence; and this was done before the
above-mentioned agreement was made.
Before the expiration of the four years, some clerks of
Provence produced a new will of King Charles I.*, brother to
St. Louis, and the wills of other kings of Sicily of the house of
France. By these it was pretended, that not only the county
of Provence belonged to the king, but the kingdom of Sicily
also, and other places possessed by the house of Anjou, and
that the Duke of Lorraine had no title to any of them (which
other people denied). And those who were against the
Duke of Lorraine's title, addressed themselves to this Stephen
de Vers, who persuaded his master that the last King
Charles, Count of Provence, son of Charles of Anjou, Count
du Maine, and nephew to King Rene, had left it to him by
his will ; for King Rene had made him his heir before he
died, and preferred him before the Duke of Lorraine, who
was his daughter's son ; and this, they urged, was done by
King Rene, in consideration of the wills of Charles I. and
his wife, the Countess of Provence, by which they had en-
joined that that kingdom and the county of Provence should
not be separated, nor descend to a daughter, whilst there was
a son living of their line. And they affirmed that the wills
of their immediate successors, and particularly the will of
Charles II. f , were to the same effect.
* Charles I., King of Naples, was the son of Louis VIIL of France
He married Beatrice, Countess of Provence and Forcalquier, and died
on the 7th of January, 1295. He was invested with the kingdom of
Sicily by Pope Clement IV., who charged him to conquer it, which he
did, after a severe struggle with Manfred and Conradin, the legitimate
possessors of the crown. But his reign was of short duration: tha
Sicilian Vespers overthrew his tyranny in 1282, and separated the
kingdom of Sicily from that of Naples.
f Charles II., son of Charles I., King of Sicily, was a prisoner in the
hands of the Sicilians at the period of his father's death in 1285. He
was set at liberty in 1288, in pursuance of a treaty by which he acknow-
ledged the separation and independence of the two crowns of Napleg
and Sicily; but Pope Nicholas IV., by whose influence the treaty wai
made, broke it, released Charles from his oath, and authorised him to
begin the war anew. This war, which lasted twenty-four years, occu-
pied without lustre the whole reign of Charles H. He died on the 5\h
Of May, 1309.
1485.] NAPLES REBELS AGAINST F ERRAND. 97
During these four years, tliey that had the management
of the king (who were the Duke and Duchess of Bourbon,
and a chamberlain named the Lord of Graville *, and other
lords of his bed-chamber, who at that time had great power)
sent for the Duke of Lorraine to court, and put him into
places of great trust and authority, in order that, as he was
a person of a more enterprising temper than most of the
courtier*, he might aid and assist them in their under-
takings]-; besides, they questioned not to find a way to get
rid of him when they had no further need of him, as they
did afterwards, when they found they were strong enough to
manage affairs by themselves, and that the power of the
Duke of Orleans* and the rest of the nobility in his faction
was weakened. But after the expiration of the four years,
the Duke of Lorraine refused to stay any longer at court,
unless they would either put him into possession of the
county of Provence, or secure it to him in writing at a fixed
time, and meanwhile continue his pension of thirty-six
thousand francs : to which they would not agree ; so the
Duke of Lorraine left court, highly disgusted with their
conduct.
Four or five months before his leaving the court, a very
lucky adventure happened to him, if he had known how to
make use of it. The whole kingdom of Naples rebelled §
against King Ferrand ||, for his and his son's tyranny; and
all the barons, and three parts of the kingdom, submittal
themselves to the Church. But King Ferrand, with the
• Louis Malct, Lord of Graville, and one of the king's chamberlains,
was appointed Admiral of France in 1486, and resigned that post in
favour of his son-in-law, Charles d'Amboise, Lord of Chaumont, in
150S. He died on the 30th of October, 1516, aged seventy-eight years.
(■ The Duke of Lorraine made a written promise to the Duke and
Duchess of Bourbon, dated at Bar, on the 29th of September, 1484, that
he would support the young king.
% Louis d'Orleans, son of Charles, Duke of Orleans, and Mary of
Cleves, succeeded to the throne of France in 1498, under the title of
Louis XII. He was born on the 27th of June, 1462; crowned on the
27th of May, 1498; and died on the 1st of January, 1514. He was the
chief opponent to the Duchess of Bourbon's claim to the Regency, during
the minority of Charles VIII.
$ This revolt broke out on the 25th of October, 1485. — Sismondi,
si. 265.
y See note, Vol. I. p. 313.
vol. n. is
98 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [I486.
assistance of the Florentines, pressed them very hard ; upon
which the Pope* and the rehel lords of the kingdom sent to
the Duke of Lorraine, to make him king ; and they were so
far in earnest in the matter, that their galleys, and the Car-
dinal of Saint Peter ad Vinculaf, waited tor him a long
time at Genoa, whilst he was quarrelling at the French court,
though ambassadors from all the nobility of Naples were with
him, pressing him daily to depart.
The result of all was, the king and his council expressed
great readiness to assist him. He was promised sixty thou-
sand francs, and received twenty thousand of them ; the rest
he lost. He had leave to carry his hundred lances along with
him, and was told that the king would send ambassadors tc
foreign courts in his favour. However, though the king was
now nineteen years of age, yet he was still governed by the
persons above-named, who were always telling him of his un-
doubted title to the kingdom of Naples (which I insert the
rather, because persons of little consideration are often ca-
pable of raising great troubles), as I learned from several of
* Gian Battista Cibo, Cardinal of Melfi, was elected Pope on the 29th
of August, 1484, and assumed the title of Innocent VIII. At the time
of his elevation to the supremacy he was about fifty-five years of age,
and had several natural children. He was quite as corrupt as his pre-
decessor, Sixtus IV., but endued with far less talent and energy. He
married his son, Franceschetto Cibo, to a daughter of Lorenzo de'
Medici; and this alliance afterwards procured to his posterity the duchy
of Massa-Carrara. In 1489 he gave a cardinal's hat to Giovanni de'
Medici, afterwards Leo X. By venality in the distribution of justice,
by monopoly, and by the ignorance and carelessness of his administra-
tion, he brought Home into a state of poverty and humiliation previously
unexampled. He died on the 25th of July, 1492, the most despised, but
not the most detested, of the Popes who had yet filled the chair of St.
Peter.
f Giuliano della Kovere, Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula, and
Bishop of Avignon, was elected Pope on the 1st of November, 1503,
under the title of Julius II. Although violent and irascible, he had a
strong sense of his duty as a pontiff and as an Italian. He was deter-
mined on preserving the States of the Church intact for his successors.
He rejected all nepotism, all aggrandisement of his family; and would
have accused himself of unpardonable weakness if he had suffered others
to usurp what he refused to give his family. With these motives, he
made his tiara a helmet and his crosier a swerd. After having driven
the French out of Italy, and restored the Medici at Florence, he died of
an inflammatory disease on the 21st of February, 1513. See his life in
IUnhk h History of the Popes, ia Bomfs Standard Library*
148b. j LOhrtAINE's OPPORTUNITY LOST. 99
the Duke ot Lorraine's ambassadors to Rome, Florence,
Genoa, and elsewhere, and also from the duke himself as he
passed by Moulins, where I then resided with John Duke
of Bourbon, upon account of a dispute with the court. At
that time the Duke of Lorraine's opportunity was half lost
already by his own delay; however. I went out to meet him,
, though I had no obligation to do so, for he was partly the
occasion of my being driven from court, and had given me
very abusive language. But nobody was now so dear to
him as I ; he caressed me at a most extravagant rate, and
complained heavily of those who had the present adminis-
tration of affairs. He continued two days with John Duke
of Bourbon, and then he set out for Lyons.
In short, his friends were so weary and tired with waiting,
that both Pope and barons came to an accommodation* with
King Ferrand ; in reliance upon which, when the barons
ventured to Naples, they were all seized and imprisoned f,
though the Pope, the Venetians, the King of Spain, and the
Florentines, had all of them guaranteed the observance of
the peace, and had promised and sworn to secure their safety.
The Prince of Salerno \ escaped into France, refusing to be
comprehended in the treaty of accommodation, as he knew
the revengeful temper of King Ferrand; and the Duke of
Lorraine returned with great shame and dishonour into his
own country. He never afterwards had any credit with our
king, who took away his lances, stopped his pension of
thirty-six thousand francs for the county of Provence ; and
in that condition he stands to this very day, which is the
year 1497.
* Peace was concluded on the 11th of August, 1486.
tf In contempt of his plighted word, Ferdinand ordered the arrest of
the Princes of Altamura and Bisignano, and of several other gentlemen,
who were immediately put to death, and their bodies sewn up in sacKS,
and thrown into the sea. — Sismondi, xi. 278.
X Antonio de Sanseverino, Count of Marsico and Prince of Salerno,
»u Grand Admiral of Naples in 1477, and died in 1437
b a
100 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMtNLS. [I486.
Ch. II. — How the Prince of Salerno, a Neapolitan by Birth, came
into France ; and the Endeavours that were used by him and Ludovic
Sforza, surnamed the Moor, to persuade the King to make War upon
the King of Naples ; and the Occasion of it. — 1486-92.
The Prince of Salerno with three of his nephews, sons
to the Prince of Bisignan *, fled to Venice, where he had great
acquaintance. Their business was to consult the senate
(as the prince told me himself), to know what prince they
should address themselves to, whether to the Duke of Lor-
raine, the King of France, or the King of Spain. He told
me their answer was, that the Duke of Lorraine was a dead
man, and it was impossible for him ever to relieve them ;
i hat the King of Spain would be too powerful if he had the
kingdom of Naples in addition to the isle of Sicily and
what he possessed already in the Gulf of Venice ; and that
his strength at sea was very considerable : but they would
rather advise them to apply to the King of France, for with
the Kings of France who formerly reigned in Naples, the
Venetians had held very good friendship and amity ; and
this I believe was spoken without any anticipation of what
happened afterwards. The conclusion of all was that these
barons came into France, where they were well received,
but indifferently supplied. They solicited very hard for two
years together ; and all their applications were made to
Stephen de Vers, at that time seneschal of Beaucaire, and
chamberlain to the king.
One day they were in hopes, another in despair. How-
ever, their friends were active in Italy, especially in Milan,
where John Galeasf was duke ; not the great Galeas +, who
* Girolamo de Sanseverino, Count of Tricario and Prince of Bi-
eignauo, was Grand Chamberlain to Ferdinand I King of Naples. He
Was treacherously murdered by order of his sovereign in 1487.
f Gian Galeazzo Sforza succeeded to the dukedom of Milan on the
assassination of his father, and died in 1494, at the age of twenty-five.
He was succeeded by his uncle Ludovic the Moor, who was probably
the cause of his death.
1 Gian Galeazzo Visconti became Lord of Milan in 1378, on the
* >ath of his father Galeazzo. In 1395 he obtained from the Emperor
"fenceslaus a diploma creating him Duke of Milan ; and by a sub-
sequent imperial diploma the boundaries o/ his duchy were defined, aud
I486.] AFFAIRS OF MILAN. 101
is buried in the Chartreux at Pavia, but the son of Duke
Galeas * and the Duchess Bonaf, a daughter of the House
of Savoy ; which duke being a weak prince, the Duchess
had the education of her children ; and I saw her (when she
was a widow) in great authority, but managed by one of her
secretaries called Cico J, who had been a long time in that
family, and had banished or imprisoned all the brothers § of
this Duke Galeas, in order to secure the duchess and her
children. Among the rest he banished one Ludovic || (who
has since become Duke of Milan), whom she afterwards
recalled, though he was her enemy, and actually in arms
against her; as she did also the Lord Robert di St. Seve-
rino^f, a valiant captain whom this Cico had likewise ban-
ished.
At last, by the persuasion of one Anthony Tassini **, who
was her carver (a native of Ferrara, and of mean extrac-
made to include twenty-five towns, from Verona and Vicefiza on the
east to Alessandria and Tortona on the west. In 1402 he was only
waiting for the surrender of Florence to declare himself King of Italy,
when he died suddenly of the plague.
* Galeazzo Maria Sforza, son of the eminent Francesco Sforza, suc-
ceeded his father as Duke of Milan in 1466. Ten years afterwards, on
the 26th December, 1476, he was assassinated in a solemn procession,
and in his ducal robes, as he was entering the Church of St. Stefano.
f Bona of Savoy assumed the regency of the dukedom on the death
of her husband.
% Cecco or Francesco Simoneta was a native of Calabria, whose in-
tegrity and activity had recommended him to the patronage of Duke
Francesco Sforza. He afterwards became prime minister of Duke
Galeazzo Maria. On the 11th of September, 1479, he was arrested and
conveyed to the Castle of Pavia, where he was beheaded on the 30th of
October, 1480. He was brother to Giovanni Simoneta, whose elegant
Latin history of the life of Francesco Sforza is one of the best records
of the transactions of that period.
§ These were Sforza, Duke of Bari, Ludovic the Moor, Ottaviano, and
Ascanio Ottaviano soon after perished in attempting to cross the
river Adde.
| Ludovico Maria Sforza, surnamed the Moor, was the second son of
Francesco Sforza. He became Duke of Milan on the death of his nephew
Gian Galeazzo Sforza, in 1494 ; and he died on the 16th of June,
1508.
^1 Kobcrto di Sanscverino, Count of Cajazzo, and Lieutenant-general
of the armies of Italy.
** Antonio Tassini, a Ferrarese, Chamberlain to Galeazzo Maria
Duke of Milan.
u a
102 THE MEMOIRS OF PIIILIP DE COMMIXES. [1488.
tion), she recalled them very indiscreetly; presuming that,
according to their oaths and promises, they would do no
barm to Cico. But the third day after their return they
took Cico, put him in a tub, and carried him through the
town of Milan ; for he was allied by marriage with one of
the family of the Visconti, and had he been in the way, it is
said they would not have dared to seize Cico; and the Lord
Ludovic contrived that Robert di St. Severino, who was to
pass that way, might have the pleasure of meeting him in
that posture, for he knew he abhorred him : after which
Cico was conducted to the castle of Pavia, where he died a
prisoner.
They paid the lady all possible respect, and, as she
thought, complied with her wishes in everything ; but they
held private councils among themselves, and never com-
municated anything to her but what they pleased ; and she
took it for the greatest kindness in them not to trouble her
with anything. They gave her leave to give Anthony
Tassini what presents she pleased : they assigned him an
apartment near her own, and permitted him to carry her
on horseback behind him through the town ; and nothing
but feasting and dancing went on in her palace. This way
of living did not continue long, scarce half a year, during
which time she made him many rich presents, and all
packets were directed to him, which rendered him odious to
the Lord Ludovic (uncle to the two children *), who in-
tended to make himself sovereign, as he did afterwards.
One morning -j- the children were both taken from their
mother, and carried to a castle called " The Rock ;" where
they were confined by the appointment of the Lord Ludovic,
Robert di St. Severino, one Pallevoisin J (the young duke's
governor), and the captain of the castle §, who, since the
death of Duke Galeas, had never stirred out of it, nor did he
for a long time after ; till at length he was taken by the cir-
* Gian Galeazzo, mentioned in a previous note ; and Hermes, who,
after liis brother's death, went to reside in Germany
t They were conveyed to this castle in November, 1480, after the
banishment of Antonio Tassini.
X Gian Francesco Pallavicini, one of the young duke's lieutenants.
§ Filippo Eustachio of Pavia, who was created a knight by the young
Duke of Milan on Christmas-day in the year 1480.
1489." DISPUTE BETAVEEN LUDOVIC AND ST. SEVERING-. 103
cumvention of Ludovic, and the folly of his master, who
took after his mother, and was far from wise.
When these persons had secured the children in the
castle, they seized upon the treasury (which at that time
was the richest in Christendom), and took an account of it ;
after which they caused three keys to be made, of which the
duchess had one, but she never touched one farthing of the
money afterwards. They made her renounce the guardian-
ship of her son *, and the Lord Ludovic was appointed in her
place ; besides which they wrote letters to several places,
and particularly into France, which I saw, and which con-
tained severe remarks on her conduct, in relation to her
favourite Anthony Tassini ; yet they sent him away with-
out any other punishment, for the Lord Robert was his
friend, and would not suffer either his person or his estate to
be touched. But these two great men could not as yet get
admittance into the castle when they pleased ; for the cap-
tain had a brother in it, and near a hundred and fifty men ;
and he always ordered the gate to be very strictly guarded
when they entered, and would not suffer above one or two
to come in with them ; and this caution was used for a long
time.
In the meanwhile a great dispute arose between the Lord
Ludovic and Robert di St. Severino, as is usual, for it is im-
possible for two persons in authority to agree long together ;
but Ludovic getting the upper hand, the other quitted Mi-
lan, and went into the Venetian service, f Yet since that
time, two of his sons, the Lord Galeas j and the Count di
Cajazzo§, came back into the service of the Lord Ludovic,
and the state of Milan ; some say they came with their
* The young: duke was declared of full age on the 7th of October,
1480 ; and the duchess left Milan on the 2nd of November following. — ■
Sismonm, xi. 174.
t He was declared a rebel on the 27th of January, 1482 ; and in the
month of March following, the Venetians appointed him their Lieutenant-
general.
i Galeazzo di Sanseverino married Bianca, a natural daughter of
Ludovieo Sforza. He was killed in the battle of Pavia, in February,
1524.
§ Gian Francesco di Sanseverino, Count of Cajazzo, died on the 7th
of September, 1502. He and his brother entered the service of the Duke
of Milan in 1483.
ii 4
104 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1490.
father's consent, others say not : he it which it will, Lu-
dovic entertained them very kindly, and they did, and do
still *, serve him very faithfully. You must know that the
Lord Robert, their father, was of the house of St. Severinof ,
but by a natural daughter, which in Italy is no great matter ;
for a natural daughter with them is as good as one lawfully
begotten. I mention this because they assisted us in our
enterprise in Italy, in favour of the Prince of Salerno (wlio
is chief of the house of St. Severino), and for other reasons,
which you shall hear afterwards.
The Lord Ludovic began presently to make it appear that
he was resolved to establish his authority; and he caused
money to be coined with the Duke's effigy on one side, and
his own on the other, which caused abundance of the people
of Milan to murmur. The duke was married to the Duke
of Calabria's daughter^, who, after the death of his father,
Ferrand King of Naples, became king himself by the name
of Alphonso ; the young lady was very courageous, and
would fain have stimulated her husband to vindicate his
authority ; but he was a weak prince, and merely disclosed
all she said. The captain of the castle maintained his repu-
tation for a long while, and never stirred from his fortress ; for
suspicions began now to arise, so that both the sons never
went abroad together, but when one went forth the other
stayed at home. In short, about a year or two before our
expedition into Italy, this Lord Ludovic, having been
abroad with the young duke, waited on him back to the
castle, to receive homage of his subjects. The captain as
usual ordered the drawbridge to be let down, and advanced
a little way upon it with some of his officers to receive the
duke and kiss his hand, according to the usual custom ; the
duke being at some distance from the bridge, the captain
was forced to step forward a pace or two; upon which the
two sons of St. Severino, and others that were with them,
* This was probably written in 1497.
f Instead of Sanseverino we should here read Sforza ; for Roberto di
Sanseverino's mother was Lisa Attendolo, a natural daughter of Muzio
Attendolo, the father of Franeesco Sforza, Duke of Milan. See note,
Vol. I. p. 52.
X Isabella, daughter of Alphonso II., King of Naples. She died io
1524.
1492.1 LUDOVIC*S SEIZURE OP THE CASTLE. 105
■J
seized on liim and secured him. Those of the castle pulled
rp the drawbridge, upon which Ludovic, causing the end
of a candle to be lighted, swore he would cut off their heads
if they did not surrender the castle before the candle was
burnt out ; upon which they submitted, and he fortified the
castle, and put a strong garrison in it tor himself, though all
was done in the duke's name. Ludovic also caused a charge to
be made against the captain, upon pretence that he intended
to deliver up the castle to the emperor, and he seized upon
several Germans, who (as he gave out) were agents in the
business, but discharged them again ; and he beheaded one
of his secretaries * as having been a principal manager of
that affair, and another for carrying messages betwixt them.
Ludovic kept the captain a long while in prison, but at last
he released him, stating that, when the Duchess Bona of
Milan had once upon a time corrupted one of the captain's
brothers, and hired him to kill him as he was entering into
the castle, the captain had prevented it ; and upon that
account he now spared his life.f Yet I am of opinion, had
he been guilty of a design of delivering that castle to the
emperor (who had a double title to it both as emperor! and
as Duke of Austria, which family claims it likewise), he
would scarce have pardoned him, for it would have produced
great disturbance in Italy, and the whole state of Milan
"would have revolted in a day; for whilst they were under
the dominion of the emperors, they paid only half a ducat
taxes ; but now, both clergy, nobility, and people are
cruelly oppressed, and are, to speak the truth, under a
perfect tyranny.
* Ludovico Terzago, a secretary and relative of Ludovico Sforza, wai
sent by him to Pavia, where he was long kept a prisoner, and eventually
Starved to death, according to popular rumour. Corio, p. 880.
f A plot against Ludovic was to have broken out on the 7th of De-
cember, 1485 ; among the conspirators were two brothers of Captain
Eustachio. — Corio, p. 866.
X The duchy of Milan was then a fief of the empire.
106 TTIE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1492.
Ch. III. — How the Duchy of Milan is one of the finest and most valuable
Territories in the World, if relieved from the heavy Tribute which
oppresses it. — 1492-3.
The Lord Ludovic, being in possession of this castle, and
finding all the soldiers belonging to the family devoted to
his service, resolved to proceed ; for he that is master of
Milan has the whole government and signory at his mercy ;
because the principal senators, and those who have the
charge of other places in that government, have their resid-
ence in that city. And, for the size of it, I never saw a
richer or finer country than the duchy of Milan : and if the
prince could content himself with a yearly revenue of five
hundred thousand ducats, the subjects would grow only too
wealthy, and the prince would be secure ; but he raises six
hundred and fifty or seven hundred thousand ducats every
year, which is absolute tyranny, and makes the people prone
to revolutions. Finding himself so near the completion of
bis wishes, as has been said before, the Lord Ludovic (who
was married to the Duke of Ferrara's daughter*, by whom
he had several children) took measures to strengthen himself
with friends, both in Italy and abroad. He first entered
into an alliance (for mutual preservation) with the Vene-
tians-]-, to whom he was a great friend, to the prejudice of
his father-in-law, from whom, not long before, the Venetians
had taken a small territory called the PolesanJ, encompassed
entirely with water, and wonderfully fruitful; which place
(though but half a league distant from Ferrara) the Vene-
tians keep to this day, and in it there are two pretty towns,
Rovigo and Labadio§, which I have seen. This country
was lost when the Duke of Ferrara made war upon the
* Beatrice d'Este vr&s married to Ludovico Sforza on the 18th of
January, 1491 ; and died on the 2nd of January, 1497. She was the
daughter of Hercules d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, who succeeded his brother
Borso in 1471.
f By a treaty dated on the 7th of August, 1484 — Sismondi, xi. 243.
j Rovigo, the chief town of the Polesina, surrendered to the Venetians
on the 17th of August, 1482.
§ Badia, a small town to the west of Rovigo, and near the rigr t bank
af the Adige.
1493. J LUDOVIC SOLICITS AN EXPEDITION TO NAPLES. 107
Venetians at first by himself; but before the end of the
war Alfonso, Duke of Calabria (whilst his father Ferrand
was alive \ Count Ludovic with the forces of Milan, the
Florentines, the Pope*, and the city of Bologna, came in to
his assistance : yet, when the Venetians were almost con-
quered, or at least very low, with their treasury exhausted,
and several of their towns lost, Ludovic made an honourable
and advantageous peace for them, by which all was to be
restored to everybody but the poor Duke of Ferrara, who
had begun the war at the instigation of Ludovic and
Ferrand, whose daughter he had married ; and the Duke of
Ferrara was forced to let the Polesan remain in the hands
of the Venetians, who keep it to this day. It was reported
that Ludovic had sixty thousand ducats for his pains ;
whether this be true or false I cannot state ; but I know the
Duke of Ferrara was of that opinion himself. Ludovic at this
time was not married to his daughter; and therefore the
friendship between him and the Venetians subsisted.
None of all the subjects or relations of John Galeas, Duke
of Milan, gave the Lord Ludovic the least disturbance in his
designs upon the duchy except the young duchess, who was a
wise lady, daughter to Alphonso, Duke of Calabria (as I said
before), eldest son to Ferrand, King of Naples. In the year
1493 the Lord Ludovic began to solicit King Charles VIII.,
now reigning in France, to undertake an expedition into
Italy, to conquer the kingdom of Naples, and to supplant
and exterminate those who possessed it ; for, whilst they
were in force and authority, Ludovic durst not attempt what
he did afterwards; for at that time Ferrand, King of Sicily,
and Alphonso his son, were both very rich, of great experience
in war, and had the reputation of being very valiant princes,
though it appeared otherwise afterwards. t This Ludovic was
a wise man, but very timorous and humble where he was in
awe, and false and deceitful when it was for his advantage;
and this I do not speak by hearsay, but as one that knew
him well, and had many transactions with him. But to
proceed, in the year H93 he began to tickle King Charles
* Pope Sixtus IV.
t The arrival of Charles VIII. in Italy, and his early successes, 80
terrified Alphonso, that he abdicated the crown in favour of his son.
108 THE MEMOIRS DF PIIILIP DE COMMINES. [1493.
(who w;is but twenty-two years of age) with the vanities
and glories of Italy, remonstrating (as is reported) the right
which he had to the fine kingdom of Naples, which he knew
well enough how to blazon and display. He addressed him-
self in everything to Stephen de Vers (who was now be-
come seneschal of Beaucaire, and was much enriched, though
not yet to the full height of his ambitious desires) and to
Genera] Brissonet, who was rich and well skilled in the
management of the finances, and a great friend of the sene-
schal of Beaucaire, by whose means the Lord Ludovic per-
suaded Brissonet to turn priest, and he would make him a
cardinal ; hut the seneschal was to have a duchy.
For the better management of these affairs, the Lord
Ludovic, in the year 1493, sent a great embassy to the king
at Paris. The chief of the embassy was the Count di Ca-
jazzo, eldest son of Robert di St. Severino (whom I men-
tioned before). At Paris the Count di Cajazzo met the
Prince of Salerno, who was his cousin, and chief of the
house of St. Severino, and who, having been banished his own
country by King Ferrand, was then in France, pressing and
soliciting our king to an enterprise against Naples. With
the Count di Cajazzo came also Count Charles de Belle-
joyeuse *, and the Lord Galeas Visconti t of Milan : both of
them were well attended, and in great splendour ; but their
discourse was only in public, and then in general terms by
the way of compliment and visitation ; and this was the
first solemn embassy that ever Ludovic sent to the king. He
had formerly sent one of his secretaries to endeavour to pro-
cure that his nephew, the Duke of Milan, might be permitted
to do hone age for Genoa, by proxy, which was granted
against all reason. It is true, the king was at liberty to do
him that favour, and depute some person or other to receive
his homage; for, when he was under the guardianship of
his mother, I (being then ambassador at Milan for the late
King Louis XI.) received it by commission from the king in
the castle of Milan ; but then Genoa was out of his hands,
* Carlo Balbiano, Count of Belgioioso.
t Galeazzo Visconti was one of those Milanese nobles who nomi-
nated Ludovic the Moor, Duke of Milan, in 1494, to the prejudice o(
Francesco Sforza.
1493.] MILANESE AMBASSADORS IX PARIS. 109
and in the possession of Baptista di Campoforgoso *, and
now the Lord Ludovic had recovered it, ami gave eight
thousand ducats (to some chamberlains of t lie king) to have
the investiture of it But they did their master a mighty
injury thereby, for they might have had Genoa for him if
they had wished ; or, it it must be sold, why for so little ;
a9 Duke Galeas paid my master, King Louis, fifty thousand
ducats at one payment, of which sum I had thirty thousand
crowns given me by his majesty, whom may God pardon !
and yet they pretended they received the eight thousand
ducats by the king's consent. Stephen de Vers was one of
the number of those that received the money, and I think he
beat down the price to prepare and oblige Ludovic to back
his interest, when his design should be fit for execution.
The ambassadors having arrived at Paris (as I said be-
fore), and having had their public audience, the king took
the Count di Cajazzo into his closet, and had a private con-
ference with him for some time. This Count di Cajazzo
was in great reputation in Milan, and his brother Galeas di
St. Severino was in greater credit, especially in military
affairs ; and he began to make large offers of his service and
assistance to the king, both in men and money ; for his
master had already as absolute a command of the state of
Milan as if it had been his own, and could dispose of it as
he pleased. He represented the business very easy to the
king, and a few days after, he and the Lord Galea9 took
their leave of his majesty and departed ; but Count Charles
de Bellejoyeuse remained behind, to promote the business,
and immediately after they were gone, he dressed himself in
the French habit, and managed the affair so dexterously,
that several of the courtiers began to approve of the design.
The king sent into Italy one Peron de Bashe-j* (educated in
the family of Anjou, under John, Duke of Calabria) as his
ambassador to Pope Innocent, the Venetians, and the Flo-
rentines. These embassies from one court to another, and
secret negotiations, continued seven or eight months, and
* In 1478 the Genoese revolted from Milan, proclaimed their inde-
pendence, and elected Baptists Fregosi as their doge ; but in 1487
they were again reduced to subjection to the dukes of Milan.
t Perron de Bachi, son of Berthol de Bachi, one of the equerries ci
Louis, King of Naples.
110 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIF DE OOMMINES. [1493.
among those who were pri\y to it, the enterprise was talked
of in several ways ; but none of them ever imagined that
the king designed to go himself in person.
Ch. IV. — How King Charles VIII. made Peace with the King of the
Romans and the Archduke of Austria ; and returned the Lady Mar-
garet of Flanders to them, before his Expedition to Naples. — 1493.
During this suspension of affairs, a peace was negotiated at
Senlis * betwixt the king and the Archduke of Austria, heir
to the house of Burgundy, for, though a truce w;is already
concluded f , yet new occasion of difference had arisen; for
the king forsook the daughter of the King of the Roman9,
and sister to the archduke (upon account of her being too
young X), and married the daughter § of Francis, Duke of
Bretagne, that he might keep that duchy peaceably ; the
greatest part of it at the time of the treaty was in his pos-
session, except the town of Rennes, where the young lady
lived, under the guardianship of her uncle, the Prince of
Orange, who had been instrumental in making the match
between her and the King of the Romans, and married her
by proxy publicly in the church, about the year 1492. In
favour of the archduke, the Emperor Frederick sent a
solemn embassy, and offered his mediation. The King of
the Romans, the Count Palatine, and the Swiss did the like,
in order to compose this difference ; for they all were of
opinion great disputes would arise ||, and that the King of
* This treaty was dated at Senlis, on the 23rd of May, 1493. It is
printed at the end of this chapter.
f At Frankfort, on the 22nd of July, 1489.
j Margaret was then thirteen years old.
§ Anne, Duchess of Bretagne, was born on the 26th of January, 1476 ;
in 1490 she was married by proxy to the Archduke Maximilian ; but,
preferring Charles VIII., she was married to him on the 6th of De-
cember, 1491 ; she became a widow in April, 1497, and on the 8th of
January following she married Louis XII., her deceased husband's suc-
cessor on the throne of France. She died on the 9th of January, 1574.
| It is evident, from couteniporarv documents, that the emperor wa»
1493-1 PEACE OF SF.NMS. Ill
the Romans had had very greac in ury done him ; not only to
take from him a person whom lie thought was his wife, but
to send back his daughter who had been lawfully Queen of
France for several years together.
In the end, a peace was concluded ; for everybody was
weary of war, especially Archduke Philip's subjects, who
had suffered so much both by tlieir wars with the king and
their distractions and divisions at home, that they were not
able to carry it on any longer. The peace was made only
for four years, to give some repose ; and Maximilian's
daughter was to be sent back, though with some difficulty ;
for there were some persons about both the king and tha
lady who strenuously opposed it. I was present at this
treaty myself, with the rest of the commissioners, who were
Peter, Duke of Bourbon, the Prince of Orange, the Lord des
Cordes, and several other persons of quality. It was con-
cluded, that all the king was possessed of in the province of
Artois should be restored to Duke Philip, according to the
agreement made in the treaty of marriage in 1482, that if
that marriage were not accomplished, then all the lands
which went in dower with the daughter, should be restored,
either to her or Duke Philip. But the archduke's subjects
had already taken Arras and St. Omers *, so that there
remained nothing to he restored but Hesdin, Aire, and
Bethune ; the revenue and lordship of which places
were immediately delivered to the archduke's envoys, and
they put in what officers they pleased, only the king was
to remain in possession of the castles tor the term of
four years : during which time he might put what garri-
sons he pleased into them ; but at the end of four years,
which were to expire on St. John's Day, 1498, the king was
obliged, both by oath and promise, to restore them to the
archduke.
Whether these changes of marriages were according to
the laws and canons of the church or not, I cannot resolve,
and, therefore, shall leave it without any determination ; for
really making preparations for war with the King of France on account
of this twofold insult to his family. — See Dupont, iii. 360.
* Arras was taken by the Burgundians on the 5th of November,
1-492. They had recovered St. Omer on the 11th of February, 1488. —
Mulinlt, ixi. 447.
112 THE MEMOIRS OF THILIP DE COMM1NES. [1493k
I find the theological doctors divided about this point, and
some have told me they were not lawful, but others have
maintained that they were. Be it which way it will, the
ladies were all unfortunate in their children. Our queen
had three sons * successively in four years, but all of them
died, though one lived to be three years old. The Lady
Margaret of Austria was married to the Prince of Castile t,
only son to the King and Queen of Castile and several other
kingdoms; which prince died in the first year of his mar-
riage, (which was in the year 1487), leaving his princess
with child, and she miscarried of a son not long after his
death, to the unspeakable affliction of the King and Queen
of Castile, and the whole kingdom.
Presently after these changes, the King of the Romans
married the daughter J of Galeas, Duke of Milan, sister to
the above-mentioned Duke John Galeas ; which marriage
was contracted by the Lord Ludovic, highly to the dissatis-
faction of the princes of the empire, and several other of the
King of the Romans' friends, who looked upon the lady as
not of an extraction illustrious enough for him. For, as for
the Visconti, from whom the present Dukes of Milan are
descended, there is no great matter of nobility among them,
and less among the Sforzi ; for the first of that house was
Duke Francis, whose father was a shoemaker § in a little
town called Cotignole ; but he was a brave and magnificent
person, and his son was even greater ; for he made himself
Duke of Milan, by the assistance and management of his
wife || (who was the natural daughter of Duke Philip
* These sons were Charles Orlando, born on the 10th of October,
J 492, and died on the 6th of December, 1495 ; Charles, born on the 8th
of September, 149L, and died on the 2nd of October following; and
Francis, who lived ou*y a few days. — Anselme, i. 125.
f John, Infante of Castille, died on the 4th of October, 1497. See
note, Vol. I. p. 394.
| Bianca Maria, widow of Philibert I., Puke of Savoy, after twelve
years' widowhood, married the King of the Romans on the 16th of
March, 1494, and died on the 31st of December, 1510.
§ Muzio Attendolo, surnamed Sforza, was born at Cotignola, in TJo-
magvia, on the 28th of May, 1369- At first distinguished for prodigious
strength of body and undaunted bravery, he soon became equally dis-
tinguished in military tactics, and was one of the greatest condottieri of
the fourteenth century. He died on the 4th of January, 1424.
Bianca Maria Viscomi married Francesco Sforza ou the 28th of
I4y3. I TREATY OF SENLIS. 113
Maria) conquered it, and possessed it, not as a tyrant, but
as ii good and lawful prince ; being equal in virtue and good-
ness with most (and those of the best) princes of his time.
Thus much I have written that I might show what has al-
ready been the consequence of these changes of marriages ;
nor can I tell what there is still remaining behind.
A Treaty of Peace between King Charles VIII. and Maxi-
milian 1., King of the Romans, and his Son, Philip,
Archduke of Austria, concluded at Senlis, May 23. 1493.
1. A good peare, firm friendship, and perpetual alliance,
is and shall ever remain between the most Christian king,
the dauphin, their kingdom, territories, and subjects, and
the King of the Romans, and Archduke Philip his son, as
well in their own name, as in the name of the Lady Margaret
of Austria, the said king's daughter, and the archduke's
sister, for themselves, their countries, territories, subjects,
&c, laying aside all malevolence, and forgetting all past
injuries.
2. Seeing that the most Christian king, after his marriage
to the queen, hath notified by his ambassadors to the King
of the Romans and the archduke, his desire to send back
the said Lady Margaret, and to have her conducted suitably
to her quality, to any place agreed on, and for this end hath
sent her as far a3 Amiens ; he does still offer, at his own
charge, to conduct her suitably to her quality, from the town
of Meaux, where she now resides, before the 3rd of June
next, to St. Quentin, and to put her from thenceforward into
the hands of the ambassadors of the King of the Romans
and the archduke.
3. Upon such a delivery of the said lady into the hands
of the commissioners appointed by the King of the Romans
and the archduke, the said princes shall give proper instru-
Iments to the king, freeing him from all obligations of mar-
riage with her, and he shall also do the same by her.
4. The most Christian king and the archduke reserve to
themselves the liberty of recovering any rights in an arnica-
October, 1441, and died on the 23rd of October, 1469, it ia believed oi
poison.
vol. n. i
114 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP I>E COMMIXES. [1193.
ble way, and by course of law, to such matters as are not
adjusted by this peace.
5. The counties of Burgundy, Artois, and Charolois, and
the lordship of Noyers, with all their appurtenances, shall
be delivered up to the King of the Romans, as guardian to
his son the archduke; and also the towns and castles of
Hesdin, Aire, and Bethune, now in possession of the King
of France, shall be deposited in the hands of the Marshal
des Querdes, who shall keep them without any charge to the
archduke, save the usual profits taken by the commanders of
the said places; and he shall take, an oath to both the king
and archduke for the due maintenance of their several
rights, and shall keep no guard therein, that may be preju-
dicial to either party ; who shall engage not to force him
thereunto on either side: and if they do, he shall then be
discharged of all his oaths, till the archduke shall arrive at
the age of twenty, which will be on St. John Baptist's Eve,
in 1498.
6. The archduke, after he is of age, having done homage
to the king in due form, those towns and places shall be
given up to him by the marshal or others appointed to do it,
and to have the command therein.
7. The officers shall continue in their places, having com-
missions from the archduke till he comes of age and does
homage.
8. As to the city of Arras, its revenue and temporalities,
it shall be deposited in the hands of the bishop and chapter,
to whom it belongs, under the ordinary jurisdiction of the
bailiwick of Amiens, in the usual manner ; and as to the
captainship, which is in the king's disposal, he shall be con-
tent to appoint the person that now is, or shall be, nominated
by the archduke till of age, under the usual obligations ; but
the city shall be entirely in the king's power, when the arch-
duke comes of age.
9. The houses of Flanders, Artois, and Conflans, in and
near Paris, shall be delivered to the archduke.
10. The archduke shall not be obliged to do homage till
he is of age ; but the king shall, at the same time, enjoy his
usual rights and prerogatives.
11. The counties ot Maconnois, Auxerrois, and Bar-sur-
Seine, shall be enjoyed by the king, till the pretensions of
the claimants are decided.
1493.] TREATY OF SENLIS. 115
12. Whatever rights the archduke pretends to have ac-
quired by the treaty of 1482, shall remain in being, and the
king shall be free to controvert the same.
13. The ecclesiastical preferments conferred by the king
in Artois, Burgundy, Charolois, and Noyers, shall remain as
they are.
14. Free commerce shall be restored both by sea and land,
and on fresh waters, paying the usual customs due before
the breaking out of the war.
15. The cities, towns, and villages of Tournay, Tourne-
sis, Mortagne, St. Amand, &c, as the king's subjects, are
expressly comprehended in this peace ; so are the allies of
both parties.
16. Cambray and the Cambresis, with all its inhabitants,
are, by common consent, included in the peace, and main-
tained in all their rights under either prince to whom they
belong; and infractors on either side shall be punished by the
conservators of the peace.
17. A general act of indemnity shall be granted by both
parties, to all who have taken up arms, for the contrary
side, no process being ever to be brought against them : and
to those who have a mind to sue out a pardon, it shall be
freely granted.
18. All persons, as well ecclesiastics as laymen, shall, by
this peace, return to the peaceable possession of their digni-
ties, benefices, and inheritances, wherever situated, on either
side, and be kept in the peaceable possession of the same,
notwithstanding any declarations, confiscations, sentences,
and decrees to the contrary; and the judges, magistrates,
&c, shall be obliged to assist herein.
19. Under this article of returning to their estates and
rights are comprehended the, old servants of the late Dukes
Philip and Charles, who, after the death of Duke Charles,
went over to the king ; by virtue of this peace, they shall
enjoy their pensions assigned them in his lifetime, upon the
demesnes of the counties of Artois and Burgundy.
20. If any inheritance have been sold for contumacy, or
on the account of personal debts owing, the debtors shall,
within a year after the proclaiming of the peace, return to
their possessions, paying the said debts, &c.
21. As to the rents, profits, and neomes of those in-
x a
116 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMUTES. [1493.
hei itances, granted in a way of reward, or the like, by either
party, all that has been done of that kind since 1470, to the
present peace, shall never be accounted for; but yet with
an exception to any inheritances that, in due course of law,
have been adjudged to creditors for arrearages of rents,
which arrearages have been given away or remitted, such
gifts or releaseinents shall not take place, but only for such
arrearages as have escheated in time of war.
22. As to moveables which have not been made away,
but are found upon the premises which the subjects of
either party shall return to, the debts and arrearages that
have not been given away nor adjudged hy law, shall belong
to the said subjects, and not to those who have a general
list of their moveables.
23. The enjoyment of dignities, benefices, inheritances, &c,
by the subjects of either party, shall not oblige them to
reside where those possessions are; neither are they thereby
bound to take an oath to the prince in whose dominions they
are situated, unless they are fiefs, and their vassals.
24. Those who shall return to their estates by virtue of
this peace, shall not be prosecuted for rent charges escheated
during the war ; and those lands which lay waste and un-
cultivated during the war, shall be liable to the payment of
no rents.
25. No reprisals shall be made after the peace, upon the
account of damages sustained by the subjects of either party,
nor any letters of mart, contramart, or the like granted.
26. By this peace all the people of Arras, of whatever
condition, that have absented themselves since the surprise
of that city, wherever they are, are free to return and traf-
fic there, notwithstanding any promises or otherwise to the
contrary. And whether they do return or not, they shall, as
much as any of the other subjects, enjoy their estates, rights,
benefices, moveables, and utensils yet in being, without any
molestation whatsoever.
27. In like manner the people of St. Omer, of what call-
ing or quality soever, who resided therein while it was
neutral, and afterwards by reason of the taking and re-
taking of it, absented themselves from it, shall, notwith-
standing any interdiction or sentence against them, return,
and enjoy their estates, benefices, &c, without any manner
1493.] SREA.TY OF 8KNI.IS 117
of molestation ; and all offences and injuries shall be entirely
remitted.
28. The Lady Margaret, widow of Charles, late Duke of
Burgundy, is comprehended in this treaty. The king con.
sents that she shall enjoy the lands and signories of Chauch-
nis and la Perriere, with all their appurtenances in the
viscounty of Auxonne, in the same manner as the late
Duchess Isabella, the mother of Duke Charles, enjoyed them,
upon the payment of twenty thousand crowns in gold.
29. The most Christian king names for his allies, his
imperial majesty, the kings of Castile, England, Scotland,
Hungary. Bohemia, and Navarre, the Duke of Bavaria, the
Count Palatine, and all the dukes and branches of the house
of Bavaria, the electors of the Holy Empire, the duke and
house of Savoy, the duke and house of Milan, the doge and
republic of Venice, the Duke of Lorraine, the Duke of
Guelderland, the marquis and house of Montferrat, the
bishop and city of Liege, the Swiss Cantons, the common-
wealths of Florence and Genoa. And, on the part of the
said King of the Romans and archduke, his most sacred
imperial majesty, the kings of Castile, Hungary, Portugal,
Denmark, England, and Scotland, the electors of the Holy
Roman Empire, as the king of Bohemia, and others, the
marquis and house of Montferrat, the bishop and city of
Liege, and all the princes of the empire, the Swiss Cantons,
cities and communities of the empire are comprehended.
30. In this peace are also compreheded the king's coun-
sellor William de Ilaraucourt, bishop and count of Verdun,
as well in his own person as for his bishopric and county
of Verdun, lordships, subjects, &c. So are also, by the
consent of the said princes, the archbishop, and all the in-
habitants of Briancon.
31. The respective parties oblige themselves, in the most
6olemn manner to the observance of this treaty ; so they do
also their subjects, vassals, &c.
32. Any contravention which may happen of this treaty
on either side, shall be repaired at farthest in the space of
six weeks.
33. For the greater confirmation of this peace, the King
of Fiance will procure for the King of the Romans and the
archduke, the instruments and seals of the dukes of Orleans,
I 3
118 THE MKMOIRS OY PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1493.
Bourbon, Nemours ; the counts of Angouleme, Montpensier,
and Vendome ; of the Prince of Orange ; of the marshals and
admirals of France : and of the cities, towns, and communi-
ties, of Paris, Rouen, Lyons, Poitiers, Tours, Angers, Or-
leans, Amiens, and Tournay. And the King of the Romans
and archduke engage to procure those of the Duke of Saxony,
Margrave of Baden, the Lord of Ravestein, Counts Nassau
and Zollern, the Prince of Chimay, and the Lords de Bevres,
Egmont, Fiennes, Chievres, Walhain, Molembais, du Fay,
Fresnoy, the great bailiff of Hainault, and the towns and com-
munities of Louvain, Brussels, Antwerp, Boisleduc, Ghent,
Bruges, Lisle, Douay, Arras, St. Omer, Mons, Valenciennes,
Dort, Middleburg, and Namur. And if any shall contra-
vene this treaty, without making reparation in six weeks,
these guarantees shall be obliged to leave the contravener,
and give assistance to the injured party, and be discharged
of their oaths.
34. The instruments on both sides shall be registered and
verified in the most regular and authentic manner.
35. The conservators of this peace for the marches on the
side of the country of Burgundy, on the king's part, are, the
Prince of Orange, M. de Baudricourt, governor of Burgundy,
and the bailiffs of Dijon, Chalons, Autun, and Macon, or
their lieutenants. For the marches of Champagne and
Rhetelois, M. de Orvat, governor of Champagne, the bailiffs
of St. Peter le Moustier, Troyes, and Vitry, or their lieu-
tenants; and for the marches of Picardy, the Marshal des
Querdes, the bailiffs of Amiens and Yermandois, the sene-
schals of Ponthieu and Boulonnois, and the governors of
Montdidier and Roye, or their lieutenants ; and for the sea,
the admiral, &c. The conservators on the King of the
Romans and the archduke's part, for the marches of Flan-
ders and Artois, are, M. de Nassau, with the governors of
Lisle, Arras, and the bailiffs of the said countries respec-
tively ; for the marches of Hainault, the princes of Chimay,
and the grand bailiff of Hainault ; for Luxemburg, the Mar-
grave of Baden ; for Burgundy, the governor of the county
of Burgundy, and the bailiffs of Damont, Daval, and Dole;
and for the sea, Monsieur de Braves, admiral, &c.
36. No manner of protection or shelter shall be given to
vagrants, thieves, and robbers, on either side ; but they
1493.] EMBASST TO THE VENETIANS. 1)9
shall be banished, or otherwise brought to condign punish-
ment, wherever they are found.
37. The same thing is to be done in respect to rovers, or
pirates by sea.
38. Neither party shall receive or support those who shall
in any way contravene this peace ; but they shall be punished
for the infractions they make ; but the peace at the same
time shall not be held to be violated.
39. The said princes and their officers shall assist one
another against all those who shall delay or refuse to keep
this peace ; and they shall on both sides be taken for com-
mon enemies ; and those who shall in any way assist or
favour them, shall in like manner be answerable for the
mischiefs done by them, and be punished as violators of the
peace.
Ch. V. — Mow the King sent to the Venetians, in order to induce them
to enter into an Alliance with him, before undertaking his Expedition
to Naples ; and of the Preparations in order to it. — 1493.
To return to our principal matter : you have already been
informed how the Count di Cajazzo, and the other ambassa-
dors, took their leave of the king at Paris ; how several se-
cret negotiations were carried on in Italy ; and how the heart
of our king (though he was very young) was strangely bent
upon this expedition ; which, however, he discovered to
none but the two persons * above-mentioned. His request
to the Venetians was that they would give him their assist-
ance and counsel in his expedition ; and they returned this
answer: That he should be very welcome in Italy, but that
they were wholly incapable of assisting him, upon account
of their continual apprehensions of the Turk f (though at
that time they were at peace with him) ; and to undertake
to advise so wise a king, who had so grave a council, would
* Stephen de Vesc and Briconnet.
f The Emperor Bajazet IL
14
120 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. f J493.
savour of too much presumption on their part ; but they
would rather assist than disturb him in his designs.
This they believed a very discreet answer, and truly so it
was ; and I am of opinion that their affairs are managed
with more prudence and discretion at this day, than the
affairs of any other princes or states in the world : but God
will still have us know, that the wisdom and policy of man
is of no avail where He pleases to interpose ; for He orders
things many times quite otherwise than were expected. The
Venetians did not imagine that the king would come in
person, and (whatever they pretended) they had no appre-
hension of the Turk ; for the Turk who then reigned was
a man of no courage nor activity. But their design was
to be revenged upon the House of Arragon, both father and
son, for whom they had a mortal hatred, because (as they
said) it was at their instigation that the Turk fell upon them
at Scutari.* I mean the father of this present Turk, called
Mahomet Ottoman, who conquered Constantinople, and did
abundance of mischief besides to the Venetians. They had
several complaints also against Alphonso, Duke of Calabria,
and, among the rest, they said that he had been the occasion
of the war which the Duke of Ferrarahad made upon them,
which was very expensive, and had like to have proved their
ruin. They complained also that he had sent a man to
Venice, expressly to poison their cisterns, at least such as he
could come at ; for some are kept under lock and key. In
that city they use no other water (for they are wholly sur-
rounded by the sea) ; but that water is very good, and I
drank of it eight months together, in my first embassy
thither (for I have been there once since). But these were
not the true reasons of their animosity to the House of
* The treaty of peace concluded in 1478 between the Sublime Porte,
Ferdinand of Arragon, and the King of Hungary, enabled Mahomet II.
to concentrate all his forces against the Venetians. The republic in
▼ain attempted to enter into ncgociations. Mahomet, certain of the
success of his arms, refused to treat unless Scutari were surrendered to
him, and, without waiting for any answer to this proposition, marched
into Albania. On the 8th of June, 1478, he laid siege to Scutari ; and
on the 26th of January, 1479, the town and its territory were ceded ta
him by the Venetians. This Scutari must not be confounded with tht
suburb of Constantinople, which bears the same name : it is a large
town, the capital of a pashalic in Northern Albania,
1493.] TIIE KING ADVANCES TO LYONS. 121
Arragon ; the real occasion was, because the father and son
restrained them, and kept them from extending their con-
quests both in Italy and Greece ; for their eyes were upon
them on every side, and yet, without any title or pretence,
they had lately subdued the kingdom of Cyprus.* Upon these
considerations the Venetians thought it would be highly for
their advantage if a war should be begun between our king
and the House of Arragon ; hoping it would not be brought
to a conclusion so soon as it was, and that it would only
weaken the power of their enemies and not utterly destroy
them : and then (let what would happen) one side or the
other would give them towns in Apulia (which borders
upon their gulf) in order to have their assistance: and so it
happened f, but they had like to have been mistaken in their
reckoning. Besides, they thought to have transacted affairs
so secretly, that nobody could have accused tin m of inviting
our king into Italy, since they had neither given him counsel
nor assistance, as appeared to the world by their answer to
Peron de Basche.
In the year 1493, the king advanced to Lyons, to ex-
amine into his affairs ; but nobody ever imagined he would
have passed the mountains himself. He was met there by
* The title of the Venetians to the kingdom of Cyprus rested on the
following grounds. Catharine Cornaro. the sister of Marco Cornaro, a
Venetian gentleman, had married Jacopo de Lusignan, King of Cyprus,
on condition that the republic of Venice should adopt her as a daughter.
Two years after his marriage, on the 6th of June, 1473, the King of
Cyprus died, leaving his widow pregnant of a son, who died in infancy.
The Venetians ih-is became guardians of the kingdom, and soon ren-
dered themselves odious to the Cypriotes, who made several attempts to
shake off their yoke, but in vain. In consequence of these revolts and
of a report that the queen was about to contract a new marriage, the
Venetians resolved to take full possession of Cyprus : they accordingly
dctlared that, by the decease of the heir to the crown, the queen had
inherited the rights of her son, and that the republic in its turn would
succeed to the rights of the queen, as she was a daughter of St. Mark.
This decision was conveyed to Catherine, with orders that she should
come at once to Venice, ami deliver up the reins of government into
the hands of the Venetians. She obeyed ; and on the 26th of February,
1489, the standard of St. Mark floated over the palace of Fanutgosta
and all the fortresses of the island. — Sismondi, x. 398.
f In return for certain assistance which they promised him, Fer-
dinand II. made over the towns of Otranto, Brindisi, Trani, Mouopoli,
and Fuglinano to the Venetians. — Sismonui, xii. 386.
122 THE MEMOIRS OF THILIP DE COMMINF.S. [1493.
the Lord Galeas di St. Severino, brother to the Count di
Cajazzo, with a numerous retinue, on the part of the Lord
Ludovic, whose lieutenant and chief minister he was. He
brought with him arms, and abundance of fine horses trained
on purpose for tournaments. He tilted very well himself,
for lie was young and a fine gentleman ; and the king enter-
tained him with great honour and good cheer, and made
him a knight of his own order; after which he returned into
Italy, but the Count de Bellejoyeuse still stayed with the king
to promote his expedition. By this time a great army was
preparing at Genoa, where the Lord d'Urfe, master of the
horse, and several others, were negotiating tiie king's affairs.
At length, ahout the beginning of August, in that year, the
king removed to Vienne in Dauphiny, and the nobility of
Genoa resorted to him daily. The king also sent to Genoa
at that time Louis, Duke of Orleans, now King of France,
a young prince, and very handsome, but much addicted to his
pleasures : of him enough has been said in these Memoirs.
It was the opinion of everybody at that time, that he was
to conduct the army by sea ; and that it was to be embarked
and landed in the kingdom of Naples, by the assistance and
direction of the banished princes of Salerno and Bisignano,
whom we have mentioned before. They had gotten fourteen
great ships, besides several galleys and galleons, ready at
Genoa ; and the king was as much obeyed in those parts as
at Paris, for the city belonged to the state of Milan, where
the Lord Ludovic governed, without any competitor but the
duke his nephew's wife, daughter to King Alphonso (for at
that time his lather King Ferrand was dead). But the poor
lady had no great power, since the king's army was ready
to march, and her husband was a weak prince, and discovered
whatever she said to his uncle, who had already caused a
messenger to be drowned whom she had sent to her father.
The equipping of this fleet was very expensive, and I be-
lieve cost no less than three hundred thousand francs, which
quite exhausted the king's treasury; and yet it did him no
great service after all, for, as I observed before, neither his
exchequer, his understanding, nor his preparations were
sufficient for such an important enterprise, and yet he suc-
ceeded in it by the mere favour of Providence, as was
visibly manifest to all the world. I do not saj that the
1493.] AFFAIRS OF NAPLES. 123
king wanted wisdom, considering his age; but he was but
two-and-twenty years old*, and not as yet capable of under-
standing state affairs. Those who were the chief managers
of this affair (I mean Stephen de Vers, seneschal of Beau-
caire, and Monsieur Brissonet, at present cardinal of St.
Malo) were two persons of indifferent fortune, and less ex-
perience, which made the power of God more conspicuous,
for our enemies were reputed wise, warlike, and rich, well
furnished with good counsellors and officers, and in posses-
sion of the whole kingdom; I speak of Alphonso of Arra-
gon (newly crowned by Pope Alexanderf), who was sup-
ported by both the Florentines and the Turks. King
Alphonso had a son called Don Ferrand, a hopeful gentleman
of about two or three-and-twenty years old, who wore his
harness very well, and was extremely beloved in that king-
dom ; and a brother called Don Frederic (who was king
after the death of Ferrand), a wise prince, and admiral of
their fleet, who was educated a long time in our country,
and whom you, my Lord of Vienne, have often (by your
skill in astrology) assured me would be king ; and he pro-
mised me (upon my telling him of it) a pension of four
thousand livres, if it proved true, as it did twenty years
afterwards.
But to proceed. The king changed his resolution, being
prevailed upon by the Duke of Milan's letters, and by the
importunity of Charles de Bellejoyeuse, his ambassador, and
of the two ministers above-mentioned ; but by degrees
Brissonet's courage began to fail him, finding that all sober
and rational persons condemned the expedition, as it was to
begin in August, without money, tents, and everything else
that was necessary to carry it on ; so that the seneschal was
the only man that was consulted ; for the king looked coldly
upon Monsieur Brissonet for three or four days, but was re-
conciled to him afterwards. About this time one of the
seneschal's servants died, it was said, of the plague, and he
* He was twenty-four years old at this time. — See note, p. 94.
t Kodcric Borgia, a native of Valencia in Spain, was elected Pope
nnder the title of Alexander VI., on the 11th of August, 1492, and died
on the 18th of August, 1502. He was a monster of profligacy and
wickedness, and has been well called by Roscoe "the scourge of Chris-
tendom, and the opprobrium of the human race."
124 TIIE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1494
durst not appear at court ; which was a great mortification
To him, for there was nohody else to carry on the design.
The Duke and Duchess of Bourbon were with the king, and
used all their interest to hinder this expedition, and Mon-
sieur Brissonet did the same ; so that one day it was laid
aside, and the next revived. At last the king resolved to
march, and, thinking to pass the mountains more commodi-
ously in sirall bodies, I mounted on horseback, and advanced
before; but I was countermanded, and assured that the de-
sign was given over. The same day fifty thousand ducats
were borrowed of a merchant of Milan, but the Lord Lu-
dovic was the real lender. I was surety for six thousand
ducats, and others for the rest ; but it was borrowed with-
out interest. Before that, we had borrowed of the bank of
Soly, in Genoa, a hundred thousand francs, the interest of
which in four months amounted to fourteen thousand francs*,
but some people said the persons above mentioned kept part
of the money for their own private use.
Ch. VI. — How King Charles set out from Vierme, in Dauphiny, to con-
quer Naples in Person; and the Action that was performed by his
Fleet, under the Command of the Duke of Orleans. — 1494.
In short, the King, on the 23rd of August, 1494, set out
from Vienne, and marched straight towards Asti.* At Suza
the Lord Galeas di St. Severino came post to meet his
majesty, who advanced from thence to Turint, where he
borrowed the jewels of Madame de Savoy J, daughter tc
the late William, Marquis of Montferrat §, and widow to
* Asti, a city of Piedmont, about twenty-six miles east of Turin.
Charles VIII. arrived there on Tuesday, the 9th of September, 1494.
Susa is also a Piedmontese town, at the junction of the two routes across
the Alps by Mont Cenis and Geneva.
t The king reached Turin on the 5th of September.
j Bianca de Montferrat married Charles I. Duke of Savoy, in 1485;
became a widow on the 13th of March, 1489; and died on the 31st of
March, 1509.
§ William "VI., Marquis of Montferrat, succeeded his brother, John
IV., in 1464, and died on the 28th of February, 1483.
1494.] TIIE KING REMAINS AT ASTI. 125
Charles Duke of Savoy. Having pawned them for twelve
thousand ducats, he removed a few days after to Casale *,
the residence of the Marchioness of Montferrat f, widow of the
late Marquis of Montferrat, a young and prudent lady, and
daughter to the King of Servia. The Turk having overrun
her country, the emperor (in respect of the relation betwixt
them) took care of her, and married her there. She also
lent the king her jewels, and they also were pawned for
twelve thousand ducats ; by which you may see what an
unprosperous beginning there was of this war, had not God
himself directed the enterprise.
The king continued at Asti for some time. The wines
in Italy were sour this year, and therefore not at all agree-
able to the French, any more than the excessive heat of the
atmosphere. The Lord Ludovic and his wife came with a
numerous retinue to wait on his majesty ; they staid there
two days, and then removed to a castle called Annone, about
a league from Asti, belonging to the duchy of Milan, to which
place the king's council resorted to him daily.
King Alphonso had two armies in the field, one in Ro-
magna, towards Ferrara, under the command of his son ; who
was attended by the Lord Virgil Ursini J, the Count de Pit-
telhane §, and the Lord John James di Trivulce||, who at
this time is in our interest. To face this body of forces,
there was the Lord d'Aubigny^f on the king's side, a wise
man and a brave officer, and with him at least two hundred
French men-at-arms, and five hundred Italians in the king's
* Casale, a city of Piedmont, on the right bank of the Po, thirty-
eight miles cast of Turin.
f Mary, daughter of Stephen, despot of Servia, married Boniface IV.,
Marquis of Montferrat, on the 17th of October, 1485; became a widow
in 1493; and died in 1495. — See infra, Book VIII. Chap. xvi.
t Virgilio Orsini, Count of Tagliacozzo, Lord of Bracciano, and con-
stable of the kingdom of Naples.
§ Niccolo Orsini, Count of Nola and Pitijrliano.
|| Gian Giacopo Trivulzio, surnamed the Great, Marqnis of Vigevano
and Duke of Musocci. He was afterwards created a marshal of
France.
% Bcraut Stuart, Lord of Aubigny, and a Knight of the Order of St.
Michael, was one of the numerous gentlemen of Scottish descent then
in the service of the King ot France. Charles VIIL subsequently
created him Count of Arei, Marquis of Squilazzo, and constable of the
kiugdoui of Naples. He died in 1504.
126 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1194.
service, commanded by the Count di Cajazzo above-men-
tioned, as an officer under the Lord Ludovic : he was in
great alarm for this brigade, for if it had been defeated, we
should have retired, and have left him to shift for himself;
and the enemy had a strong party in the duchy of Milan.
The other army, which was commanded by Don Fre-
derick, King Alphonso's brother, was at sea, and the fleet
that had this body of forces on board lay off Pisa and Leg-
horn (for the Florentines espoused their interest), and with
it a certain number of galleys, commanded by Breto di
Flisco *, and other officers of Genoa, by whose assistance
they were in hopes of making themselves masters of that
city ; and they missed it but narrowly. They landed some
thousand men at Specie and Rapalo t, and had they not met
with a timely opposition, it is probable they would have car-
ried their point ; but that very day, or the next, the Duke of
Orleans arrived there with some ships, a good number of
galleys, and one great galeass, which was mine, and com-
manded by Albert Mely. The duke and chief persons of
the army were on board my galeass, with several great pieces
of cannon (for she was very strong) ; and getting as near
the shore as possible, they cannonaded the enemy so briskly
with their great guns (which till that time were unknown
in Italy), that they beat them from their post, and landed
what soldiers they had in their ships. And from Genoa,
where the whole army lay, there came by land a considerable
body of Swiss, commanded by the bailiff of Dijon. J There
were other reinforcements also sent from the Duke of Milan,
under the command of Lord John Lewis di Flisco §, brother
to the above-mentioned Breto, and the Lord John Adorni || ;
but these were not in the engagement, yet they did their
duty, and held several passes with great courage and reso-
lution. In short, when joined by these reinforcements, our
* Obietto de Fieschi, who died at Verceil on the 25th of August,
1497. — Federici, 78.
f La Spezzia, a maritime town in the Sardinian dominions, at the
head of the Bay of Spezzia, in the Gulf of Genoa. Rapallo, another
Sardinian seaport, fifteen miles east of Genoa.
J An:oine de Bessey, Baron of Trichastel, and Bailiff of Dijon.
§ Giovanni Ludovico de Fieschi, brother of Obietto
(| Giovanni Adorni. brother of Agostino, at that time Governor of
fceuoa. — GmcaARM.Ni, u 164.
1494.] AMBASSADORS OF THE FLORENTINES. 127
army attacked and utterly defeated the enemy, of whom
about a hundred or six-score were killed in the pursuit,
and about eight or ten taken prisoners ; among whom there
was one Signor Forgosa*, son to the Cardinal of Genoa. f
Those who were taken were stripped to their shirts by the
Duke of Milan's soldiers, and dismissed without other in-
jury ! for in Italy that is the law of arms. I had a sight of
all the letters which brought an account of this victory to the
king and the Duke of Milan ; and after this manner was the
army defeated, and never after durst approach us. Upon
our return to Genoa the citizens began to rise in arms, and
slew /several Germans, that were in the city; but the tu-
mult was soon appeased, after some of the ring-leaders of the
insurrection were killed.
Something must now be said of the Florentines, who sent
two embassies to the king of France before his setting out
upon this expedition ; but their design was only to dissemble
with him. The first time the seneschal of Beaucaire, Mon-
sieur Brissonet, and myself were deputed to treat with their
ambassadors, who were the Bishop of ArezzoJ, and one
Peter Soderini. § Our demands were only that they should
grant us passage for our troops, and a hundred men-at-arms,
to be paid by them after the Italian rate (which is but ten
thousand ducats a year). The ambassadors replied ac-
cording to the instructions that were given them by Peter
de Medicis, a young man of no extraordinary parts, son of
Laurence de Medicis, lately deceased, who had been one of
the wisest men of his time, governed the city almost as a
prince, and left it in the same condition to his son. Their
family had been of about two generations, Peter, the father
of this Laurence, and Cosmo who founded it, and was worthy
to be reckoned among the chief of that age : indeed, consi-
• Giovanni Fregosi, natural son of Cardinal Paolo Fregosi.
f l'aolo Fregosi, Archbishop of Genoa, tilled the office of doge of
that city several times between the years 1462 and 1488; he was created
a cardinal by Pope Sixtus IV. in 1480, and died on the 2nd of March,
1498.
X Gentile Becchi, the tutor of the sons of Cosmo de Medici, waa
appointed Bishop of Arezzo on the 21st of October, 1473 and died in
1497.
§ Piero Soderini was appointed Gonfalonier of Florence in 1502, ami
died on the 13th of June, 1522.
128 TIIE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1494
dering their profession (which was merchandising), I think
this family was the greatest in the world ; for their factors
and agents had so mucli reputation upon their account, that
it is scarce credible. I have seen the etfect of it in England
and Flanders: I saw one Gerard Quanvese, who kept King
Edward IV. upon his throne, almost upon his own credit,
during the time of the civil wars in that kingdom ; for he
furnished the king at different times with more than six-
score thousand crowns, but not at all to his master's ad-
vantage, though at length he got his money back again. I
knew also another, named Thomas Portunay*, who was
security between King Edward and Charles Duke of Bur-
gundy, for fifty thousand crowns, and at another time for
eighty thousand. I cannot commend merchants for doing
so ; but it is highly commendable in a prince to be punc-
tual with them, and keep his promise exactly ; for he knows
not how soon he may want their assistance, and certainly
a little money at a critical juncture of affairs does great
service.
This family of Medicis was thought to be in a declining
condition (as is the case with all kingdoms and govern-
ments), for the authority of his predecessors was a great
prejudice to Peter; though indeed Cosmo, the first of the
family, was mild and gentle in his administration, and be-
haved himself as he ought to do in a free city. Laurence,
the father of Peter (of whom we are now speaking), upon
occasion of the difference betwixt him and the Pisansf, men-
tioned in a former part of this book (in which several of
them were hanged), had a guard of twenty soldiers assigned
him, for the security of his person, by an order from the
Signory, which at that time did nothing without his di-
rection and approbation. However, he governed very mo-
derately ; for (as I said before) he was a wise man ; but
his son Peter thought it his due, and employed his guards
to the terror and vexation of his people, committing great
injuries and insolencies by them in the night, and invading
* Thomas Portinari was agent to Lorenzo de Medici at Bruges, where
he kept a bank. — Sismondi, xi. 80. He is often mentioned in Bymer
as having money transactions with Edward IV.
f See Book VI. Chap. iv. The allusion here is manifestly to tbo
Conspiracy of the Pazzi.
1494.] AFFAIRS OF FLORENCE. 129
the common treasure, which his father indeed had done
before him ; but he managed it so prudently, that the people
were almost satisfied with his proceedings.
The second time Peter sent, as his ambassadors to Lyon,
Peter Caponi* and others, excusing himself, as he had
done before, on the ground that King Louis XL had com-
manded the Florentines to make a league with King Ferrand,
in the time of John Duke of Anjou, and to forsake the
alliance of the said duke ; and alleging that, since it was by
command of the late Kin": of France that they had entered
into alliance with the House of Arragon, and the term of
the said alliance was not to expire for some years f, they
could not in justice desert it: however, if his majesty en-
tered their territories, they would be of service to him ; but
they no more thought he would come in person than the
Venetians did. In both these embassies there was always
somebody who was an enemy to the Media's, and at this
time more particularly Peter Caponi, who often informed us
secretly what measures were to be taken in order to make
the city of Florence revolt from Peter de Medicis, traducing
him more sharply than he really deserved: indeed, he ad-
vised the king to banish all Florentines out of our kingdom,
which he did. I mentioned this particular, that you may
more easily understand the sequel of these Memoirs ; for
the king had conceived a great enmity against Peter de
Medicis ; and the Seneschal and Monsieur Brissonet held
great intelligence with his enemies in the city, especially
with this Caponi, and with two of Peter's cousins-german,
who bore his own name.
Cn. VIT. — How the King, being at Asti, resolved to go in Person into
the Kingdom of Naples, by the Persuasion and Advice of Ludovie
Sforza: how Philip de Commines was sent on an Embassy to Venice:
and of the Duke of Milan's Death. — 1494.
I have already given an account of the naval engagement
off Rapalo. Don Frederic (upon this defeat) retired to Pisa
* Pietro de Gino Capponi, created Gonfalonier of Florence in 1493.—
Gami'kimni, ii. 471.
■f The treaty was made in March, 1480. — Sissiondi, xi. 185
VOL. U. K
130 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [H94.
and Legliorn, without staying for the forces which he had
put on shore ; at which the Florentines were highly dis-
gusted, as they were always in their own minds more inclin-
able to favour the French than the house of Arragon : and
our army in Romagna, though the weaker of the two, yet had
better fortune than the other, and forced the Duke of Cala-
bria to give ground by degrees; which the king observing,
he took a resolution to march forward, being solicited to do
so by the Lord Ludovic and others whom I have mentioned
before; and at his arrival, Ludovic saluted him after this
manner : —
" Sir, do not fear for the success of this enterprise ; Italy
consists but of three powers that are at all considerable :
Milan, which is one of them, is yours already; the Venetians
are neutral ; and you will therefore have to deal only with
Naples. When we were united, and joined together in a
mutual alliance, several of your predecessors have been too
powerful for us. If you will be ruled by me, I will assist in
making you greater than Charlemagne ; for, when you have
conquered the kingdom of Naples, we will easily drive the
Turk out of the empire of Constantinople." If he meant
the Turk who now reigns*, it was likely enough ; but to in-
sure success, affairs on our side needed to have been managed
more wisely. Upon this the king began to be wholly
governed by the Lord Ludovic, which highly displeased some
of our courtiers, among whom there was one of the gentle-
men of the bed-chamber, and I know not who besides ; but
their resentment was to no purpose, for the king could not
do without him, and what they did was but in complaisance
to the Duke of Orleans, who pretended to the duchy of
Milan. f But, above all, none was so much disgusted as
Monsieur Brissonet, who now began to look upon himself as
i considerable person, and was become the seneschal's rival
in power ; and Ludovic having proposed to the king and the
seneschal to leave him behind, he was highly incensed against
him, and endeavoured to persuade all people that he meant
to leave them in the lurch. It had been more wise in him
* The Emperor Bajazet.
f As the descendant of Louis, Duke of Orleans, who had marries
Valentina, daughter of Gian Galeazzo, Duke of Milan, duiing the reign
oi (Jharle* VL
J i94.] CHARLES VIII. AT PAVI/. 131
to have been silent ; but he was never employed in, nor
indeed was he fit for, any affairs of state ; for he had not the
command of his tongue, though otherwise he was very
well affected to his master. The conclusion of all was, that
several ambassadors should be sent ; and I, among the rest,
was sent to Venice.
I put off my journey for some days, because the king was
fallen sick of the small-pox, and being taken with a high
fever besides, was thought to be in danger ; but it lasted
not above five or six days, so that I went upon my journey,
and others went to other places. I left the king at Asti, not
suspecting in the least that he would have proceeded any
farther. In six days' time I arrived, with my mules and
train, at Venice ; for the road was the best in the world. I
was very unwilling to depart, fearing the king would go
back ; but God had otherwise appointed. The king marched
directly for Pavia*, by the way of Casale, where he visited
the Marchioness of Montferrat, a lady much in our interest,
but a great enemy to Lord Ludovic, and he hated her
also. The king was no sooner at Pavia, than suspicions
began to arise ; they would have had the king to lodge in the
town, and not in the castle; but nothing would serve his turn
but the castle, and lie there he did, and his guards were
doubled that night, as some have told me since, who were
then witli him. The Lord Ludovic was much surprised at
it, and questioned the king about it, asking whether he was
suspicious of him. In short, things were so carried on both
sides, that amity was not like to last long : but our people
were the most indiscreet in their language ; not the king,
but some of his nearest relations. In this Castle of Pavia
there was at that time John Galeas, Duke of Milan (whom I
have mentioned before), and his wife, the daughter of Kin«-
Alphonso. The duchess looked very melancholy ; for her
husband was dangerously sick, and kept in that castle under
guard with herself, her son, and one or two of her daughters.
Her son is still living, and was then about five years of age.
Nobody might see the duke, but any one might see the child.
I passed that way three days before the king, but was unable
to see the duke, and was told he was very ill indeed. How«
• Charles VIII. entered Pavia on the 14th of October, 1494.
K 2
iZ'2 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP Dff COMMINKS. [1494.
<5ver, the king visited him when lie came, for he was his
cousin-german. His majesty told me afterwards, the subject
of their discourse was only in general terms, for he was un-
willing to offend Count Ludovic in anything ; yet he had a
great mind (as he said) to have given him notice of the designs
against him. At the same time the duchess threw herself
it Ludovic's feet, and begged of him to have compassion on
her father and brother ; he replied it was not in his power;
but she had more reason to have petitioned for her husband
and herself, for she was still young and very beautiful.
From thence the king marched to Placentia*, where
Ludovic was informed that his nephew, the Duke of Milan,
lay a dying ; so he took his leave of the king, and, being
pressed to return, he promised faithfully to do so. Before
he reached Pavia the duke was deadf , upon which he went
post immediately to Milan. This I saw in a letter which
the Venetian ambassador that was with him wrote to Venice,
assuring the Signory of his design to make himself duke. And
it is certain both the Dos;e of Venice and the Signory were
much against it, and asked me if the king my master would
not espouse the young duke's interest. Though the thing was
but reasonable, yet knowing how necessary Ludovic's interest
and assistance were to the king's designs, my answer was in
doubtful terms.
Ch. VIII. — How- and by what Means the Lord Ludovic seized and
usurped the Lordship and Duchy of Milan, and was received by the
Milanese as their Sovereign. — 1494.
In short, he made himself Duke of Milan, and, as many
affirmed, that was his design in inviting and drawing us into
Italy. He was charged also with the death of his nephew,
whose friends and relations put themselves in a condition to
wrest the government out of his hands ; and they might
easily have done it, had it not been for his alliance with our
king ; for they had already assembled their forces in Romagna,
* The king arrived in Piacenza on the 18th of October.
f The Dike of Milan died on the 22nd of October.
1194.] THE LORD LUDOVIC SEIZES: .MILAN. 133
as you have heard ; but the Count di Cajazzo, and Monsieur
d'Aubigny made them retire. For when Monsieur d'Aubigny
with about a hundred and fifty or two hundred French men
at-arms and a good body of Swiss, advanced upon them, Dor-
Ferrand retreated towards his friends, keeping about half
a day's march before us towards Forli*, which belonged to a
ladyf that was a bastard of the house of Milan, and widow
of Count Hieronimo, who was, or said he was, a nephew to
Pope Sixtus. It was reported that she favoured their party,
but our men battered a small town J of hers for half a day, an 1
took it by storm ; upon which and the inclination she had
to us before, she came over to our side. The people of Italy
began generally to assume new courage, and be desirous of
change ; for they saw a thing that they had never seen
before, and that was the use of great guns, which had never
been so well understood in France till then. Don Ferrand
retreated towards his own kingdom, and marched for Cesenna§,
a strong city of the pope's, in the marquisate of Ancona ;
but the people stripped and plundered all the stragglers they
could meet with, for they were disposed all over Italy to
revolt, had things been managed wisely on our part, without
violence and plunder. But all was done quite contrary, at
which 1 was extremely concerned, for, by this way of pro-
ceeding, we lost all the honour and renown that the French
nation might otherwise have gained in that expedition. At
our first entrance into Italy we were regarded like saints, and
everybody thought us people of the greatest goodness and
sincerity in the world ; but that opinion lasted not long, for
our own disorders, and the false reports of our enemies,
quickly convinced them of the contrary; for they accused us
of all imaginable rapacity, plundering and robbing their
houses, and ravishing their wives and daughters, whenever
they fell into our hands. Nor could they have invented any.
* Forli, the chief town of the Legazione di Forli, a province of the
Papal States.
f Catherine Sforza, equally celebrated for her courage and her beauty.
Bee Notes, Book VI. Chap. iv.
J Mordano, in the county of Imola, all the inhabitants of which vrere
put to the sword. — Sismondi, xii. 163.
§ Cescna, a pretty town in the province of Forli, near the foot of th»
Apennines.
K 3
134 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1 194.
thing to render us more odious, for the people of Italy are
the most jealous and avaricious of any in Europe. As to our
ravishing of the women they wronged us ; but for the rest,
there was too much truth in what they said.
Ch. IX. — How Peter de Medicis put Four of his strongest Garrisons
into the King's Possession; and how the King restored Pisa, which
was one of them, to its ancient Liberty.— 1494.
The king, as you have heard, was at Placentia, where he
ordered a solemn funeral service to be performed for his
cousin-german the Duke of Milan ; and indeed he knew not
how else to spend his time, since Ludovic, the new Duke of
Milan, had left him. Those who had an opportunity of being
well acquainted with these affairs have told me, that the
whole army, understanding how ill they were provided with
everything necessary for such an expedition, had a great
incl nation to return home ; and that those who were the
chief promoters of it at first, began now to condemn it ; as,
for instance, the Lord d'Urfe, master of the horse, (though
he was at that time sick at Genoa), for he wrote a letter
upon some intelligence that he pretended to receive, which
increased and heightened their former fears and apprehen-
sions. But God, as I said before, conducted this enterprise,
for the king suddenly received news that the new Duke of
Milan was upon his return, and that the Florentines were
disposed to an alliance with us, in opposition to Peter de
Medicis, who played the tyrant amongst them, to the great
dissatisfaction of his nearest relations, and other considerable
families in that city, as the Capponi, Soderini, and Nerli,
and almost the whole town ; upon which the king left Pla-
centia, and marched towards the territories of the Floren-
tines, to force them to declare for him, »a- k» seis*- upon their
towns, which were but in au ill posture 01 aetence, and take
up his winter-quarters in them, as the cold weather had
already begun. Several small places received him very
readily, and so did the city of Lucca, which at that time was
at war with Florence. The Duke of Milan had always ad-
1434.] AFFAIRS OF FIORENOE. 135
vised the king to take up his quarters in those parts, and
advance no farther that winter, in hopes, by the king's
interest and favour, to get into ins own possession Pisa, a
strong and fair city, Sarzana, and Pietrasanta, for the two
last had belonged lately to Genoa, and had been taken
from them by the Florentines, in the time of Laurence de
Medicis.
The king marched by Pontremoli, which belongs to tiie
duchy of Milan, and besieged Sarzana, the strongest castle thfi
Florentines had, but ill provided, by reason of their divi-
sions ; and, to say truly, the Florentines never fight willingly
against the French, for they have been always faithful and
serviceable to them, in respect of their trade and interest in
France, and also upon account of their being Guelphs.*
Had Sarzana been furnished as it ought to have been, the
king's army had certainly been ruined in besieging it, fur
the country is mountainous and barren, full of snow, and
not able to supply us with provisions. The king lay before
it but three days, and the Duke of Milan came to him before
any composition was made. Having passed through Pontre-
moli, the citizens and garrison fell out with our Germans, who
were commanded by one Buser, and in the dispute some of our
Germans were slain. I was not present at this action my-
self, but I was informed of it both by the king, the duke, and
several others that were there ; and this accident produced
great inconveniences, as you will find hereafter. Our affairs
went smoothly on at Florence, and were brought to that
height, that fifteen or sixteen persons were deputed to attend
the king, as the citizens publicly declared they would not
expose themselves to the displeasure of the king and the
Duke of Milan, who had a resident ambassador in Florence ;
and Peter de Medicis was forced to concur in this embassy,
for, as matters then stood, he knew not how to avoid it, and
to have done otherwise would have ruined them, considering
how ill they were both provided and disciplined. Upon the
arrival of their ambassadors, they offered to receive the king
into Florence, and what other places his majesty pleased ;
but the designs of most of them were fixed upon his journey
* The Guelphs and the Ghibcllincs were tvo factions that began ia
Italy in the reign of the Emperor Frederic II. The former espoused
the pojfcj'g interest, and the latter that of the emperor.
* 4
136 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMM1NES. J 1 494,
to Florence, which they thought would conduce to the ex-
pulsion of Peter de Medicis, and they pressed it very ear-
nestly by means of those who then conducted the king's
affairs, whom I have often mentioned before.
On the other hand, Peter de Medicis managed his affairs
as diligently, by means of one Laurence Spinoli, his factor,
who governed his bank at Lyons, and was a man of inte-
grity, and had lived a considerable time in France ; but he
could get no intelligence of the secret affairs of our court,
nor indeed could those who lived constantly in it rely po-
sitively upon anything, their counsels were so various.
However, Spinoli practised with those who had authority
there, such as the Lord de Bresse (who has since become
Duke of Savoy,) and the Lord de Myolans, who was cham-
berlain to the king. As soon as the Florentine ambassadors
were returned, Peter de Medicis, and some of his friends,
waited on the king, Avith their answers to what had been
demanded. They perceived that their inevitable ruin in the
city would be the consequence of disputing anything the
king thought fit to require ; wherefore they resolved to gain
his favour, by doing something extraordinary, beyond what
the rest had done.
Upon the news of his approach, the Lord de Piennes, a
native of Flanders, and chamberlain to the king, and Mon-
sieur Brissonet (whom I have so often mentioned before),
were sent to meet him. They proposed the surrender of
Sarzana to Peter de Medicis, which was immediately done.
They demanded farther, that he would give the king pos-
session of Pisa, Leghorn, Pietrasanta, and Librefatta, and
he granted it, without communicating with his colleagues,
who were told, that the king was to he received into Pisa,
and stay there some time to refresh his troops ; but th«-v
never thought those places were to be left in his hands.
However, their whole power and strength were put into our
hands. Those who managed this treaty with Peter de Medicis
have often told me and other people, with smiles and laughter,
of his condescensions ; for they were astonished at them,
and he made several concessions, which they had scarce the
confidence to demand. In short, the kino- entered Pisa * :
and the ambassadors returned to Florence, where Peter de
* On the 9th of November, 1494.
1494. J LIBERATION OF VISA. 137
Medicis ordered lodgings to be prepared for the king in his
own house, which is the fairest and best furnished house fur
a merchant and man of his quality that I have ever seen.
We must now say something of the Duke of Milan, who
was already grown weary of the king, and heartily wished
him out of Italy, so that he might keep in possession of such
places as had been delivered up by the Florentines. He
pressed the king very hard to have Sarzana and Pietra-
santa, which, he said, belonged to the Genoese, and, at the
same time, he lent the king thirty thousand ducats, upon
which (as he told me, and several others afterwards) he
was promised that he should have them ; but, finding he
could not get them, he was highly disgusted, and pretending
his affairs required him at home, he left the king, who never
saw him afterwards. But he ordered the Lord Galeas di
St. Severino to stay with the king, giving him instructions
that he should be present in all councils with the Count
Charles de Bellejoyeuse, whom I have mentioned before.
During the king's stay at Pisa, the said Lord Galeas, at his
master's instigation, invited several of the chief citizens of
the town to his lodging, and advised them to rebel against
the Florentines, and petition the king to restore them to their
liberty; hoping, by this means, that the city would fall again
into the Duke of Milan's hands, as had formerly* been the
case in the time of Duke John Galeas, the first Duke of
Milan of that name; which John was a great and wicked
tyrant, but lived very honourably. His body lies in the
Chartreux at Pavia, not far from the park, and is laid much
higher than the altar ; the monks showed it me, or, at least,
his bones (and I mounted a ladder to see them), which were
no sweeter than nature permitted. One of the monks, who
was born at Bourges, in discourse, called him a saint ; I
whispered him in the ear, and asked hiin why he gave him
the title of Saint; for one might see, painted about him, the
arms of several cities which lie had wrongfully usurped ; be-
sides which, his horse and himself, carved in fine marble,
were placed above the altar, and his body lay under the feet
of his horse. He answered me softly, " In this country wo
call all saints who do us any good ; and he built us this
* In 1399.
138 THE MEMOIUS OF PHILIP DE COMBINES. [1494.
church; " which is of fair marble, and, indeed, the handsomest
1 ever saw in my life of that kind.
But to proceed : this Galeas di St. Severino had an ambi-
tion to be a great man, and Ludovic, Duke of Milan (whose
bastard daughter he had married), seemed ambitious of
making him so, and took as much interest in him as if he
had been his son, for his own children were not of age as
yet. The Pisans had been cruelly treated by the Floren-
tines, who used them as their slaves ; for they had been
conquered by them about one hundred years*, much about
the same time as the Venetians subdued Paduaf, which was
their first acquisition upon the main land. These two cities
were much alike ; they had been long enemies to those who
had the government of them ; they were almost equal in
power, and it was a great while before they could be con-
quered. The Pisans now called a council, and, finding them-
selves encouraged by so great a person, and being naturally
desirous of liberty, as the king was going to mass, a great
number of men and women cried out to him, " Liberty,
Liberty," begging of him, with tears in their eyes, that he
would vouchsafe to restore it to them. There was at that
time one Rabot J, a counsellor of the parliament of Dauphiny,
and then either actually Master of the Requests, or executing
that office for somebody else, who (having promised to do
so, or not well understanding the nature of their demands)
acquainted the king (as he was walking before him) with
the deplorable condition of the Pisans, and told his majesty
he ought in pity to redress their wrongs, for never people
had been so tyrannically dealt with. The king not under-
standing what they meant by that word liberty, and begin-
ning to commiserate the afflictions of Italy, and the miseries
the poor subjects endured, both under princes and com-
monwealths, replied, he was willing it should be so ; though
(to speak truth) he had no authority to grant it, for the town
was not his own, and he was received into it only in friend-
ship, and to relieve him in his great necessities. Monsieur
* The Florentines became masters of Pisa on the 9th of October,
1406
f The Venetians conquered Padua on the 17th ot November, 1405.
X Jean Rabot, knight, Lord of Uppi, and a man of great influence
with Charles VIIL
1494.] THE KING DEPARTS J OK FLORENCE. 139
Rabot told them the king's answer, and the people began
immediately to fill the streets with acclamations of joy; aud
running to the end of the bridge upon the River Arno, they
pulled down a great lion, called Marzocchi, which stood upon
a marble pillar, and represented the government of Florence,
and threw it into the river. When they had so done, they
caused a statue of the King of France to be set on the pillar,
with his sword in his hand, and the Marzocchi, or lion, under
his horse's feet. After that, when the King of the Romans
came to that town*, they served the King of France's statue
as they had served the lion ; for it is the nature of the
Italians to side always with the strongest ; but these Pisans
were, and are still, so barbarously treated, that they ought to
be excused for what they did.
Ch. X. — How the King departed from Pisa to go to Florence; and of
the Flight and Destruction of Peter de Medicis. — 1494.
The king stayed not long there f, but departed for Flo-
rence ; where they complained to him of the injury he had
done to the Florentines, and that it was contrary to his
promise, to restore the Pisans to their liberty. Those whom
he appointed to answer their complaint, excused his con-
duct in the best manner they could; alleging, that his
majesty had not been rightly informed, and they entered
into another agreement, of which I shall say something lvre-
af'ter. But, in the first place, I must speak of the fate of
Peter de Medicis, and of the king's entrance into Florence,
and of the garrisons that his majesty left in Pisa and other
places, which the Florentines had lent him.
After Peter de Medicis, by the consent of some few of
his colleagues, had delivered up the above-mentioned towns
to the king, he returned to Florence, where the people sup-
posed the king would not keep them, but that after he had
refreshed himself for three or four days, and had left Pisa,
» In 1496.
t The king remained six days in Pisa, and entered Fbrence on *.h<
17 th of November, 1494.
140 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILiP DE COMMIXES. [1494
they would be delivered up again. I am of opinion that,
had the king proposed to them to remain there the whole
winter, they would easily have consented to it ; though Pisa,
except in the numbers of the people, and the richness of
their furniture, is of greater value and importance to them
than Florence itself. However, Peter de Medicis, upon his
return to Florence, was but coldly received by the people,
who looked discontentedly upon him, and not without reason ;
for he had disarmed them of all their power and authority,
and rubbed them of all the conquests they had gained for a
hundred years before ; so that their hearts seemed to presage
the calamities which have happened to them since. For
this cause (which I believe was the principal, though they
never declared it), for the hatred they bore him (as I have
said before), and for the recovery of their liberties, of which
they believed themselves deprived (without any respect to
the services done them by Cosmo and Laurence his prede-
cessors), they resolved to drive him out of the town. Peter
de Medicis having some suspicion, but no certain knowledge,
of their designs, went to the palace to announce the king's
approach, who was within three miles of the city ; but
coming, according to his usual custom, with his guards, and
knocking boldly at the palace gate, he was denied entrance
by one of the Nerli * (of whom there were several brothers,
with whom I was well acquainted, and also with their
father, all very wealthy people), who told him he might
enter alone if he pleased, but otherwise not ; and he that
gave him this answer was armed. Upon which Peter de
Medicis returned at once to his house, put himself and his
retainers in arms, and sent word to one Paul Ursini f, who
was in the Florentine service ; for by his mother's side
Peter de Medicis was akin to the Ursini, and both his father
and himself had always had several of that family in their
service; and he resolved to stand upon his guard, and op-
pose any insurrection that might happen in the city. But,
not long after, hearing a great cry of " Liberty, Liberty,"
* Giacopo de Nerli, gonfalonier of one of the city companies.—
Sismondi, xii. 147.
t Paolo Ursini, Marquis of Tripalda, and Lord of Lomentana; ha
was strangled. l>y order of Caesar Borgia, on the 18th of January, 1503.
Ilia titter, Clarissa Orsini, was the mother of Pietro de' Medici.
1491.] FLIGHT OF PETER DE MEDICIS. 14,1
and seeing the people assembled in arms, he left the city
according to the prudent advice that was given him by
Ursini ; but it was a sad parting for him, for in power and
riches he and his predecessors, since the time of Cosmo, had
been equal to the greatest princes, and on that day fortune
began to be adverse, and he lost both authority and estate.
I was at Venice myself, but the news was communicated to
me by the Florentine ambassador, who was there, and I was
extremely concerned at it ; for I had a great affection for
his father. Had this Peter believed me formerly, he had
not then been in that condition ; for upon my first arrival at
Venice I wrote to him, and offered to make his peace with
the king, and it was in my power to have done it ; for I had
verbal commission, from both the Seneschal of Beaucaire and
Brissonet, to do it, and the king would have been contented
with passage for his troops, or, at the worst, to have had
Leghorn put into his hands, in return for which, he would
have done whatever Peter could have desired ; but, by the
persuasion and ill counsel of Peter Capponi, whom I have
mentioned before, he did but laugh at me for the offer I
made him.
The next morning the Florentine ambassador delivered
a letter to the Signory of Venice, importing that Peter de
Medicis was banished from Florence for endeavouring to
make himself sovereign of that city, by the assistance of the
Ursini, and of the house of Arragon ; with other complaints
besides against him, which were not true. But such are
the accidents of this world ; he who is beaten and flies, is
not only sure to be pursued by his enemies, but is forsaken,
and perhaps persecuted by his friends ; as was too visible in
the behaviour of this ambassador, Paul Anthony Soderini *
(one of the wisest statesmen in all Italy). The day before
the delivery of this letter he mentioned Peter de Medicis
to me with the respect due to his sovereign lord, but now he
declared himself his enemy by order from the State; but, to
do him justice, he said nothing of his own feelings. The next
day I was informed that Peter de Medicis was coming to
* Paolo Antonio Soderini, born in 1448, was appointed one of the
Council of Ten in 1494, and Gonfalonier of Justice in 1497. He waa
afterwards sent as ambassador to Venice, with Giambattista Ridolfi aa
Ills colleague.
142 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1494
Venice, that the king had made his triumphal entry into
Florence, and that the senate had recalled their ambassador,
telling him, that " he must sail with that wind." I saw their
letter myself, for he showed it me upon his leaving Venice.
Two days after his departure, Peter de Medicis arrived at
Venice, in the disguise of a servant in livery. The Vene-
tians were at a loss how to behave themselves towards him ;
they were afraid of disobliging the king, and yet they could
not in reason refuse to give him protection ; however, they
made him wait outside the town for two days, and desired
to know of me how my master would take it : 1 had never
received any orders from the king to resent it, and, being
willing to serve him, I answered, " That I supposed his flight
was for fear of the people, not of the king." Upon which
he was received, and the next day after his appearance
before the Signory I made him a visit. The Signory
ordered a handsome apartment for him, permitted him and
about twenty of his retinue to wear their swords, and showed
him a great deal of honour and respect ; for, though his
grandfather Cosmo had formerly hindered them from mak-
ing themselves masters of Milan *, yet they had a reverence
for the honour of his family, which had been so renowned
and triumphant all over Christendom.
When I came into his presence, methought he seemed not
to answer my expectation. He gave me a long narrative of
his misfortunes, and I gave him the best consolation I could,
Among the rest of his complaints, he told me he had lost
all ; but that which made the deepest impression on his
spirits was, that, having written to his factor in that town
to furnish him with cloth for himself and his brother, though
only to the value of a hundred ducats, he had been refused.
Not long after he had good news from the Lord de Bresse,
who has since become Duke of Savoy; and the king wrote
to him to come to him. However, the king left Florence
about the same time, as you will find hereafter ; but I was
forced to say something of this Peter de Medicis, for he was
* Cosmo de Medici had greatly encouraged and assisted hie friend
Francesco Sforza in subjugating Milan and its territory, saying " it was
far better to have a powerful friend for one's neighbour than a formidable
foe." — See Machiavelli's History of Florence, ]>. 284.
1494.] THE KING LNTERS FLORENCE 143
a great man, considering his estate and authority, which
his family had enjoyed in its fullest extent for threescore
years.
Ch. XI. — How the King made his Entrance into Florence, and what
other Towns he passed through in his March to Rome. — 1494.
The next day the king made his entrance into the city
of Florence, where Peter de Medicis had prepared apart-
ments for him in his own palace, and appointed the Lord de
Ballassat to attend him ; but, as soon as that nobleman was
informed of the flight of Peter de Medicis, he fell to rifling
the palace, upon pretence that the bank of Lyons was in
arrear to him for a considerable sum of money ; and among
other things he seized upon a whole unicorn's horn *, valued
at six or seven thousand ducats, besides two great pieces of
another, and several other things ; and other people followed
his example. The best of his furniture had been conveyed
into another house in the city ; but the mob plundered it.
The Signory got part of his richest jewels, twenty thousand
ducats in ready money, that he had in his bank in the city ;
several fine agate cups, besides an incredible number of
cameos admirably well cut, which I had formerly seen, and
three thousand medals of gold and silver, weighing near
forty pounds' weight, and I believe there were not so many
fine medals in all Italy besides : so that his losses in the
city that day might be computed at a hundred thousand
crowns, if not more.
But the king being arrived in the city of Florence, a
treaty f was made betsveen him and the Florentines, and I
* The unicorn's horn was highly valued in the middle ages, because
it was believed to possess the power of detecting poison in meat and
drink. Cuvier is of opinion that the animal whose horn was supposed
to be endowed with this precious quality was the Oryx, or Egyptian
antelope, which is remarkable for its long, straight, and tapering horns.
t This treaty was published in the Cathedral of Florence during the
celebration of mass on the 26th of November, 1494. It was at one
time very near being broken oil'; for Charles at first insisted on condi-
tions disgraceful to the Florentines, which his secretary read as his u ti-
matum. Hut the gonfalonier 1'ietro Cappoui suddenly snatched the
paper from the secretary's hand, anil, tearing it up, exclaimed, " Welit
I 14 TIIE MEMOIRS OF TIIILIP DE COMMINES. [1494
am of opinion the citizens embraced it very heartily. Tiiev
gave the king sixscore thousand ducats, of which they paid
hira fifty thousand down, and the rest in two short payments
afterward. They lent him all the above-mentioned for-
tresses, and changed their arms, which were the red fleur-de-
lis, and adopted those of the king, who took them under his
protection, and swore upon the altar of St. John to restore
the towns which they had put into his possession, within
foftr months after bis arrival at Naples, or sooner, if he
should return to France ; but matters happened otherwise,
as you will find in the sequel of these Memoirs.
The king made but a short stay at Florence ; but advanced
with his army to Sienna, where he was well received ; thence
he advanced to Viterbo*, where the enemy (Don Ferrand),
having retreated towards Rome, designed to post and fortify
themselves, and fight, if they saw an advantageous oppor
tunity, as King Alphonso's and the Pope's ambassadors at
Venice told me ; and truly I expected the arrival of King
Alphonso in person there (for he had the reputation of being
a man of courage), and that he would have left his son in the
kingdom of Naples to manage affairs in his absence. Accord-
ing to my judgment the place would have been most advan-
tageous for him ; for he would have had his own kingdom and
the States of the Church, and the towns and places belonging
to the Ursini behind him. And I was extremely surprised
to receive letters from the king announcing that he was at
Viterbo, and that one of the commanders had delivered up
the castle upon the intercession of the Cardinal of St. Peter
ad Vincula (who was governor of it) and of the Colonne. I
fancied then that God would put an end to this affair, and
began to repent of having advised and written to the king to
come to an accommodation ; for they offered him very fair terms.
Aquapendente, Montefiascone, and all the adjacent towns,
were delivered up before the surrender of Viterbo, as I was
informed by letters from the king and the Signory of Venice,
who had daily intelligence of what passed from their ambas-
if it be thus, sound your trumpets, and we will ring our bells!" This
energetic movement daunted the French king, who at once abated his
pretensions, and peace was concluded. — Sismondi, xii. 168.
* Charles VIII. entered Siena on the 2nd of December, and reached
Viterbo on the 10th of the same mouth.
1 494.] CARDINAL OF ST. PETER AD VINCULA SENT TO OSTIA. 145
sadors, which they either showed me, or else ordered their
secretaries to give me an account. From Viterbo the king
marched towards Rome, and thence through the dominions of
the Ursini, which were all surrendered to him by the Lord
Charles Ursini*, who pretended that he had orders from his
father to do so (who was still in Alphonso's service), and said
that, whilst Don Ferrand was entertained in the territories of
the Church, so long would he wait on the king, and no longer.
'1 his was exactly according to the custom in Italy, both
among princes and captains, and all persons ; for there they
carry fair with their very enemies, for fear it should be their
misfortune to be of the weakest side. The king was accord-
ingly received into Bracciano, the chief place belonging to
Virgil Ursini ; it was a strong and beautiful castle, and well
furnished with provisions. 1 have heard the king often com-
mend the place, and the entertainment he met with there ; for
at that time his army was in great distress for want of pro-
vision, and indeed they could hardly have been in greater
want ; so that, if we do but consider how often this army
was inclined to disband since its first arrival at Vienne in
Dauphiny, and the many unexpected accidents by which it
was supplied and advanced, it must of necessity be acknow-
ledged that God Almighty conducted the enterprise.
Ch. XII.— How the King gent the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula
(who was afterwards Pope, by the name of Julius II.) to Ostia; what
the Pope did at Rome in the Meantime; and how the King entered
Home, notwithstanding all the Endeavours of his Enemies to the con-
trary; and of the Factions between the Ursini and the Colonne in
Rome.— 1494.
From Bracciano the king sent the Cardinal of St. Peter ad
Vincula to Ostia, of which he was bishop. Ostia is a town
of great importance, possessed by the Colonne, who had taken
it formerly from the Pope ; but not long before, it had been
recovered from the said cardinal by the forces of the Church.f
* Charles, Count of Auguillara, a natural son »f Virgilio Orsini.
t Cardinal Julian della Rovere surrendered Ostia to tile Papal troops
on the 23rd of April, 1494, and fled into France.— Siswonm, xii. IMi.
VOL. IL T
146* THE MEMOIUS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. I_H94.
It is a town of no great strength, nnd yet it kept Rome
in subjection a long time afterwards, by means of the said
cardinal, who was a great friend to the Colonne, which
family embraced our interest, at the instigation of Cardinal
Ascanio* (the Duke of Milan's brother, and vice-chancellor
to the Pope), and in opposition to the Ursini, with whom they
have been always at difference. The faction of these two
houses has occasioned as great troubles in the states of the
Church as the animosity betwixt the Luce and Grandmont
families have been to us, or the Houcs and Caballans to the
Dutch-"- ; and 'were it not for this dissension, the territories of
the Church would be one of the best habitations for subjects
in the world ; for they pay no taxes, their duties are few,
and they would be sure to be well governed, for the popes
are always wise, and have good councillors about them. But
because of these emulations, they are subject to many calami-
ties, as murders and plundering, of which we have seen fre-
quent examples within these last four years; for since that
time+ the Colonne have been our enemies, much to their loss,
for the king had given them estates of twenty thousand
ducats a year and more in the kingdom of Naples, such as
the county of Tagliacozzo, and other places (which were
formerly the estates of the Ursini), besides whatever else they
demanded, whether in men or money ; so that what they
did was done treacherously and unhandsomely, without any
manner of provocation ; but they had been always for the
house of Arragon against the French, as being Ghibellines,
and the Ursini (being Guelphs) were always on our side
with the Florentines.
The king sent with the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula
to Ostia, Peron de Basche, the steward of his household, who
three days before had brought the king twenty thousand
* Ascanio Sforza, born on the 3rd of March, 1445, was appointed
Bishop of Pavia in 1479, and elected cardinal on the 6th of March,
1 484. Having taken an active part in the election of Alexander VI. to
the Popedom, he was appointed vice-chancellor by that pontiff; and he
died at Rome on the 28th of March, 1505.
f The families of Luz and Grammont were celebrated in Navarre for
their long-continued rivalry. The Hones and Caballans were two fac-
tions which arose in the Netherlands about the middle of the founeenti"
tentury.
J The Colonne became enemies to the French in 1495.
1 494-] THE NUMBER OF TROOPS AT OST1A. 147
ducats by sea, which was part of the money lent him by the
Duke of Milan. This Peron de Basche landed at Piombino,
and left the fleet (which was but small) under the command
of the Prince of Salerno, and the Baron of Sernon* in Pro-
vence ; but being overtaken suddenly by a storm, their ship
was much shattered, and driven upon the coast of Sardinia,
where they lay a long time without doing us any service till
they could be repaired, though they cost us a vast expense,
and came not to us till the king was in Naples.
There were with the Cardinal at Ostia about five hundred
men-at-arms, and two thousand Swiss under the command
of the Count de Lignyf (the king's cousiu-german by his
mother's side), the Lord of AllegreJ, and others. Their
design was to have passed the Tiber, and enclosed Don
Ferrand in Rome, by the favour and assistance of the
Colonne, of whom the chief were Prospero and Fabritio
Colonna, and the Cardinal Colonna§, who had two thousand
foot under their command, to pay whom the king remitted
money by Peron de Basche, though they had raised and mus-
tered them at their own pleasure at Sansonna |j, a town
belonging to them.
We must here observe that several affairs are coincident in
this place, and of every one of them something must be said.
Before the king had made his entrance into Viterbo, he had
6ent the Lord de la TremouilleL. his chamberlain, the Presi-
* Louis de Villeneuvc, Lord of Serenon, and Marquis of Trans, in
Provence.
f Louis de Luxembourg, Prince of Altramura, Duke of Andria and
Venusia, Count of Ligny, and Governor of Picardy; afterwards Lord
High Chamberlain to Louis XII.
X Yves, Baron of Alegre, and captain of the hundred gentlemen of
the king's household.
§ Prospero Colonna, Duke of Traetta, and Count of Fondi ; Fabri-
rio Colonna, Duke of Pagliano and Tagliacozzo, Constable of Naples,
and cousin-german to Prospero; Giovanni Colonna. brother of Pros-
pero, created a cardinal on the 15th of May, 1480. — LsmoifF, 218, 219,
Tl'2..
i| Gcnzano, a town in the Papal States. — Sjsmondi, xii. 182.
| Louis II., Lord of La Tremouille, Viscount of Thouars, and Prince of
Talmont, surnamed the Chevalier sans reproche ; created Governor of
Burgundy and Admiral of Guienne in 1502; and killed in the battle of
Pavia, on the 24th of February, 1524. The estates of this nobleman
had been conferred on Comminca bf Louis XL, and a full account of
l'2
HS THE MEM0IR3 OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1491.
dent of Gannay*, who had the seal, and Monsieur Bidaut f,
to Rome, to treat with the Pope, who was never without some
underhand practices, according to the mode of the Italians.
While they were at Rome, the Pope in the night received
Don Ferrand and his whole army into the town, so that our
people were seized for a short time, but dismissed the same
day by the Pope; only the Cardinal Ascanio, vice-chancellor
and brother to the Duke of Milan, and Prospero Colonna,
were detained (some say by their own consent). I had news
of all this immediately, by letters from the king, and the
Signory of Venice had a more ample account of it i'rom their
agents ; and it happened before the king got into Viterbo, for
he never stayed above two days in any place, and all things
succeeded better for our interest than we could have expected
or hoped, and no wonder, for God's providence appeared
so visibly for our assistance, that nobody could deny it.
The badness of the weather had rendered the army in
Ostia utterly unserviceable. But you must understand that the
forces under the command of the Lord d'Aubigny had been
marched back, and he himself had no further employment
there. The Italians were likewise dismissed, who had been
raised in Romagna, and brought to the army by Count
Rodolph of Mantua|, the Lord Galeot de la Mirandola§, and
Fracassej|, brother to Galeas di St. Severino; who were well
paid by the king, and were in all about five hundred men.
At his departure from Viterbo the king advanced toNaples^
of which the Cardinal Ascanio was then governor. And it
the law-suits which arose from this gift will be found in the " Life of
Commines," prefixed to the first volume of this edition of his Memoirs. .
* Jean de Gantry, Lord of Persan. apponted Fourth President of the
Parliament of Paris in 1490, First President in 1505, and Chancellor of
France in 1507. He died at Blois in 1512. — Ansei.me, vi. 442.
f Denis Bidault, notary and secretary of the king, was appointed
Receiver-General of the Finances in 1481, and President-Clerk of the
Chamber of Accounts in Paris in 1495 He died on the 18th of June,
1506.
J Rodolph, son of Ludovic HI., Duke of Mantua; born in 1451,
Mid killed in the battle of Fornovo, on the 6th of July, 1495.
§ Galeotto Pic de la Mirandola, brother-in-law of Rodolph of Mantua.
|| Gasparo, surnamed Fracasso de Sanseverino, son of Robert Count
■vf Cajazzo.
| Nepi, or Nepete, a small town about twen ty-six miles from Rome, i
1495.] CHARLES VIII. ENTERS ROME. 149
it is most certain that, whilst our forces were in Ostia,
twenty fathoms of the wall fell down at Rome, on that side
where we designed to enter.
The Pope, observing this young prince advance so briskly,
and with such unexpected success, consented to receive him
into Rome (and to speak truth he could not help it), upon
condition he would give safe conduct under his hand and seal
to Don Ferrand, Duke of Calabria, and only son to Alphonso ;
but Ferrand marched away in the night towards Naples, and
the Cardinal Ascanio conducted him to the very gate. The
king entered Rome* in arms, as a prince who had authority
to do what he pleased wherever he came. There came out to
meet him several cardinals, and the governors and senators
of the town, who attended him to his lodgings in the palace
of St. Mark (which belonged to theColonne, who were then
his servants and friends) ; and the Pope himself retired to
his castle of St. Angelo.
Ch. XDT.— How King Alphonso caused his Son Ferrand to be crowned
King; his Flight into Sicily; and of the evil Life his Father (old Fer-
rand) and he had led during their Reigns. — 1495.
Could any man have imagined that so imperious a prince as
Alphonso, inured all his lifetime to wars, and his son and
the Ursini, who had so great a party in Rome, should have
been afraid to make a stand there? Especially when they
perceived the Duke of Milan and the Venetians wavering,
and a secret alliance on foot, which would certainly have
been concluded, had any resistance been made, either at Vi-
terbo or Rome, that might have stopped the progress of the
king's arms, though but for three or four days. But God
was willing to demonstrate to the world that all these things
were beyond the contrivance and comprehension of human
wisdom ; and, as we said before, that above twenty fathoms
of the city wall fell down, so now there fell down above
fifteen fathoms of the outer wall of the castle of St. Angelo,
6P I have been told by several persons, and particularly by
• Cku-let VIII. entered Home on the 31st of December, U94.
i. 5
150 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495
two cardinals who were there. But now we must say some*
thing of King Alphonso.
As soon as the Duke of Calabria, called the young Fer-
rand (whom we have already often mentioned), was re-
turned to Naples, his father, King Alphonso, abdicated the
crown, thinking himself unworthy of it on account of the
mischiefs and cruelties he had committed against several
srinces and lords who had trusted to his and his father's
honour, causing them to be put to death (to the number of
(<>ur-and-twenty), after the decease of his father, who had
kept them alive for some time after their wars against him.
Two more he also caused to be executed, who had surren-
dered upon his father's security ; one was the Prince of
Rossano, Duke of Sessa*, a person of great authority. This
Prince of Rossano had married King Ferrand's sister, and
bad by her a son f of very great parts and understanding.
To make sure of him, he had been married to a daughter of
King Ferrand (for the Prince of Rossano had been engaged
in a most abominable treason against his king, and had de-
served the worst punishment that could have been inflicted,
had he not surrendered himself upon assurance of a pardon).
As soon as he had surrendered, the king ordered him to be
closely confined in a stinking prison, where he continued for
the space of four-and-twenty years, and whither his son was
sent, when he was about fifteen or sixteen years old, to bear
him company. Alphonso, immediately upon his accession
to the throne, ordered all the prisoners to be removed to a
small island not far from Naples, called Ischia (of which
* Marino de Marzano, Prince of Rossano, and Duke of Sessa, who
had married Eleanor, a natural daughter of Alphonso I., King of Naples,
sided with John, Duke of Anjou, in 1459, against his brother-in-law,
Ferdinand L, whom the Duke of Anjou was striving to deprive of the
crown of Naples. He was declared a rebel in 1460, but made his peace
in 1462, on condition that his son should marry Ferdinand's daughter.
Regardless of his oath, however, Ferdinand imprisoned Marino in the
castle of Naples in 1464; and after twenty-two years captivity he was
put to a violent death in 1486.
f Giambattista de Marzano, son of the preceding, was born in 1459,
and betrothed to Beatrice, the daughter of Ferdinand I., in 1462; but
Ferdinand broke off the match, and married his daughter to Matthias
King of Hungary. In 1464 Marzano was sent to join his father in
prison, and remained a captive until the arrival of Charles VIII. a!
Naples in 1495, when he was liberated by Ferdinand II.
1495.] CHARACTER OF ALPIIONSO AND HIS FATHER. 151
vou shall hoar further hereafter), and put all of them to
<leath after a most barbarous and inhuman manner, except
Kossano's son and the noble Count of Popoli*, whom he
still kept prisoners in the castle of Naples.
I inquired very carefully how they were so cruelly mur-
dered (because many people believed them alive when tin
king entered Naples), and I was told by their principal ser-
vants that they were horribly and villanously knocked on
the head by a Moor of Africa, who, immediately after their
execution, was dispatched into Barbary, that no notice might
be taken of it. I was informed he did not even spare those
ancient princes, some of whom had been kept in prison for
four or five-and-thirty years. Never was any prince more
bloody, wicked, inhuman, lascivious, or gluttonous than he.
Yet his father was more dangerous, because no man knew
when he was angry or pleased ; for he would betray men in
the midst of his entertainments and caresses, as he betrayed
Count James f, whom he caused on a sudden to be appre-
hended, and put to a horrible death, though he was in the
quality of an ambassador at his court from Francis, Duke of
Milan, whose natural daughter he had married ; but to that
barbarous action Francis was consenting, for they were
both afraid of his courage and interest with the Bracci J, for
he was son to Nicolo Picinino. § In the same manner (as
• Pictro Giovanni Paolo Cantelini, Duke of Sora, and Count of
Popoli, was one of the barons who revolted from Ferdinand in favour
if the: Duke of Anjou, and was forced to surrender when the duke aban-
doned his pretensions to the kingdom of Naples. According to some
authorities, lie succeeded in making his escape, and baffling the vengeance
of Ferdinand.
f Jacopo Piccinino, a celebrated condottiere, served the Duke of
Anjou against Ferdinand, who afterwards appeared to have forgotten
the offence, for lie gave him the command of the armies of his kingdom,
and the principality of Sulmona, and other estates. After his marriage
to Drusiana,a natural daughter of Francesco Sforza, Ferdinand invited
Piccinino to return to Naples, which he did, in the capacity of an am-
bassador from the Duke of Milan. Ferdinand entertained him nobly
for twenty-seven days, at the end of which he ordered him to be arrested,
thrown into a dungeon, and put to death. — Sismondi, x. 267.
I Braceeachi, the partisans of Braccio de Montone, a celebrated con-
doitiere captain, long the rival in renown of Sforza Attcndolp.
§ Niccolo Piccinino was the favourite pupil ot Braccio, and succeeded
to the command of his party at his death.
I 4
152 THE MEMOIRS OF PIIILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
report goes) he served several others ; for this Ferrand had
nothing of tenderness or compassion in him, as I have beer*
informed by his nearest friends and relations, nor was he
ever known to take the least pity of his own necessitous sub-
jects in relation to their taxes. The whole trade of buying
and selling he engrossed to himself all through his kingdom.
He delivered hogs to his people to feed, and required them
to make them fat, that they might fetch a good price ; and if
any of them chanced to die, the people were forced to pay for
them. In Apulia and other countries which are plentiful
in olives, he and his son bought up all the oil, almost at
their own price ; the same they did with their corn, buying it
at a cheap rate hefore it was ripe, and then selling it again
as dear as they could ; but if the price of any of their com-
modities happened to fall in the meantime, they obliged the
people to take them off their hands ; and whilst they were
disposed to sell, nobody durst buy of any one else.
If a baron, or the lord of any country, was a thrifty man,
and saved anything out of his revenue by management and
industry, they sent presently to borrow it, and the owners
were forced to comply with their unreasonable demands.
They also took away their breed of horses (of which in
those parts there are several), and caused them to be managed
and trained for them and their use ; so that they had in
horses, mares, and colts many thousands, which they sent up
and down the kingdom to be kept for them, to the great de-
triment of the masters. Both father and son had ravished
several women ; they made no conscience of sacrilege, nor
did they retain the least respect or obedience for the church.
They sold their bishopries, as that of Tarento, which
the father sold for thirteen thousand ducats to a Jew for
his son, who the Jew pretended was a Christian. He
gave abbeys to falconers and others for their children, tel-
ling them, " You shall keep me so many hawks, and mew
them, and keep me such a number of soldiers at your ex-
pense." The son never kept Lent in his life, nor so much
as pretended to do it ; and for many years he never was at
confession, nor ever received the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. In short, it is scarce possible that any prince could
be guilty of greater villanies than they were. Some will
have the young Ferrand to be the worst of the two ; though
1495.] ON THE PROVIDENCE OP GOD 153
at his death he grew humble and civil, but then indeed he
was in distress.
Ch. XIV.— How King Alphonso fled into Castile, and did Penance.—
1495.
Periiaps the reader may think that what I have written of
these two princes proceeds from some particular pique against
them ; but upon my conscience that is not the motive that
induces me to do it ; for I have given you this history of their
lives, only to continue my Memoirs, in the beginning of
which I freely declared my opinion that I thought it im-
possible for those who had the management of our affairs to
have carried on this expedition so prosperously, had not
God himself undertaken to conduct it for our young king,
whom he supplied with provisions in the extremity of his
wants, that he might make him his instrument to scourge
and chastise these Italian princes, who were wise, rich, pow-
erful, and experienced in the affairs of the world ; had wise
and able ministers to defend and take care of their dominions,
and were supported by powerful alliances; and, though they
beheld the storm afar off, yet had they not courage or wis-
dom enough at that time either to resist or avoid it. For,
except the castle of Naples, there was not one place which
stopped the progress of the king's arms lor a day, which
occasioned Pope Alexander VI. to say that the French came
into Naples with wooden spurs, and chalk in their harbin-
gers' hands to mark out their lodgings, which they took up
without any more trouble. The wooden spurs he mentioned
because it was the custom at that time, when young gentle-
men rode about the streets, for their pages to put a sharp
piece of wood into the heels of their shoes, with which they
pricked their mules forward. In short, this expedition into
Italy was performed with so much ease, and so little re-
sistance, that our soldiers scarce ever put on their armour
during the whole expedition, and the king marched with his
army from Asti to Naples in four months and nineteen days;
lot THE MEMOIRS OK PHILIP DF COMMIXES. [1495.
mi ambassador with his retinue could hardly have got thither
sooner.
I conclude, therefore, with several pious and religious
men, and the general voice of the people (which is the
voice of God), that God intended to make an example of
these princes, that by their chastisement others might be
excited to conform their lives according to his command-
ments. For these princes of Arragon lost their honour,
their kingdom, and their treasure, besides their rich fur-
niture of all sorts, which has been so strangely dispersed, it
is hardly to be known what is become of it ; and, finally,
they died themselves, three in one year*, or a little more;
but I hope their souls are in paradise. For King Ferrand,
who was natural son to Alphonso the Great t (a wise, good,
and honourable prince), was highly concerned to see his
kingdoms invaded with such a powerful army, and to find
himself not in a condition to oppose it. He was also sen-
sible of the notoriously bad lives that he and his son had
led, and that they had become odious to the people. And
besides, in the pulling down of a chapel (as I have been
assured by several of his nearest relations), there was a
book found with this title, Truth, with its secret Counsel-%,
in which (it is said) was contained a full prophecy of his
misfortunes ; but there were only three persons who had a
sight of it, for as soon as he had read it, he committed it to
the flames.
Another thing that troubled him was, that neither his
son Alphonso, nor his grandson Ferdinand, could be per-
suaded of the king's coming into Italy; but they talked
arrogantly and contemptuously of him, hectoring and threat-
ening that they would go as far as the mountains to meet
him. But some were so wise as to make it their solemn
petition to God Almighty that a king of France might
never come into Italy ; for they had only seen a poor in-
digent prince of the family of Anjou, who had troubled all
* Ferdinand I. died in 1494; Alphonso II. in 1495; and Ferdinand IL
in 1496. See previous notes.
f Alphonso V., surnamed the Wise, King of Arragon, who inherited
the throne of Naples from Queen Joanna in 1420, and left it to his bas-
tard son.
X Lenglet says it was a book written by St. Cotade, Bishop of Ta»
r&itum.
1495.] ABDICATION AND FL13HT OF ALPHONSO. loa
Italy before it could get rid of him, namely, Duke John,
King Rene's son. Ferrand laboured hard, by means of bis
ambassador Camillo Pandone*, to stop the king's expedition
into Italy before he left France, offering him a tribute of
fifty thousand ducats a year, and to do him homage for his
kingdom. But finding he could neither purchase his peace
with the King of France, nor compose the differences of the
city of Milan, he fell sick, confessed his sins, and diedf, and,
I hope, repented of his wickedness. His son Alphonso, who
was so cruel and terrible, and in such reputation for his
experience in military affairs before the King of France's
departure from Rome, renounced the crown, and was seized
with such a panic fear, that in the night he would cry out
he heard the French, and that the stones and trees shouted,
" France, France." Nor durst he ever stir boldly out of
Naples ; but upon his son's return from Rome he resigned
the government of his kingdom to him, and caused him to
be crowned, and carried on horseback through the streets of
Naples, attended by the chief persons of the city, to wit, his
brother Don Frederic, and the Cardinal of Genoa (between
whom the new king rode), and all the foreign ambassadors
that were there; and after all this pomp and solemnity was
performed, Alphonso himself fled into Sicily, and took with
him the queen his mother-in-law J (sister to Ferrand, King of
Castile, who is now reigning, and heir to the kingdom of
Sicily), to a place § where she had a strong garrison.
This was looked upon as a very surprising turn of affairs
all over Europe, but especially at Venice, where I was then
as the king's ambassador. Some said he had retired to the
Turkish court, others that his resignation was only in favour
of his son, who was less odious to the people ; but I was
always of opinion it proceeded from nothing but real
cowardice ; for no person that was cruel was ever cou-
* Camillo Pandone, Viceroy of Apulia during the reign of Ferdi-
nand EL; killed in an encounter with the French in 1495.
t On the 25th of January, 1494.
J Joanna, daughter of John II., King of Arragon, was married to
Ferdinand I., King of Naples, in 1476, and died on the 9th of January,
1517.
Mazzara, a large town on ths sea-coast in the province of Trapani
— Li vazzo, 80.
136 TUB MEMOIRS OF PHIUP DE COMMINES. [149.5.
rageous, as all histories inform us ; for so Nero and several
other tyrants perished in despair. In short, Alphonso was
in so great a consternation, that (as I was informed by some
who were about him) lie told his mother-in-law, on the very
day of their departure, that if she would not go he would
leave her behind ; and when she entreated him to put oflf
his departure for three days longer, that it might be said
she had been a whole year in his kingdom, he replied that,
rather than not go then, he would throw himself out of the
window ; " For do not you hear (saith he), how everybody
cries out, ' France, France ?' " Upon which they immediately
went on board their galleys. He took along with him ail
sorts of wines (which he loved above all things), and seeds
for his gardens, without taking any care of his property or
furniture, which was left mostly in the castle of Naples ;
some jewels and a little money he carried with him besides,
and away they sailed for Sicily, to the place above men-
tioned ; and from thence to Messina, where he sent for and
carried along with him certain monks, to whom he pretended
and swore he would have no further conversation with the
world. Among the rest, he took a particular fancy to the
monks of Mount Olivet, whose habit is white (as they told
me at Venice, where the body of St. Helena is deposited in
their monastery), and with them he lived a most strict and
austere life, serving God at all hours both of the day and
night, as the monks did in their convents, spending his time
in prayers, fasting, and alms ; by which austerity and severe
way of living he contracted a sad distemper of excoriation
and gravel; and the monks told me they never saw any
man suffer greater misery, and yet he endured it with
abundance of patience, having resolved to spend the re-
mainder of his days in a monastery at Valentia, and to take
upon him the monkish habit ; but he was surprised with a
violent illness, and died in a short time after. If we may
judge from the greatness of his penitence, we may conclude
his soul is glorious in paradise. His son outlived him not
long, for he died of a fever and a flux, and I hope they are
better where they are, than they were in this world. To
conclude, in less than two years' time there were five kinga
crowned in Naples; the three I have mentioned befure,
1495.] FERRAND THE YOUNGER ENCAMPS AT ST. GERMAIN. 157
Charles VIII. of France, and Don Frederic*, Alphonso's
brother, who now reigns.
Ch. XV.— How, after Ferrand the Yonnger was crowned King of Naples
he encamped with his Forces at St. Germain, in order to oppose King
Charles; and of the Agreement King Charles made with the Pope
during his stay at Rome. — 1495.
Now for the better understanding of all these affairs, you
must know that King Ferrand, after his coronation was
over, became a new man, supposing all the odium and re-
sentment of past injuries were buried in oblivion upon his
lather's abdicating the throne. He assembled all tiie forces
lie could raise, both of horse and foot, and marched with
them to St. Germain f, which is a strong place, and easy to
defend (though the French passed it twice), upon the fron-
tiers of his kingdom. Having encamped there, and put a
strong garrison, with all manner of provisions, into the
town, his friends began to take heart. The town is defended
in two ways, by a small river| that is fordable sometimes,
and by a great mountain which seems to hang over it.
The king in the meantime was at Rome, and continued
there about twenty days, during which time several affairs
of importance were transacted. There were with him about
eighteen cardinals, and others from various parts ; among
whom there were the Lord Ascanio, vice-chancellor and
brother to the Duke of Milan, and the Cardinal of St. Peter
ad Vincula (great foes to one another, but mortal enemies to
the Pope), the Cardinals of Gurce §, St. Dennis ||, St. Seve-
* He was crowned King of Naples in 1495. He reigned but six or
seven years before he was dethroned ; after which he retired into France,
Where he died.
f San Germano, fifteen miles from the frontier of Naples.
J The Garigliano.
§ Kaimond Perauld, a native of Surgeres in Saintonge, became suc-
cessively Bishop of Saintes, and Bishop of Gurce, in Germany; he was
made a cardinal by Pope Alexander VI. in 1494, and died at Viterbo
on the 5th of November, 1505. — Auberv, ii. 629.
|| Jean de Vilhercs, Bishop of Lombez, and Abbot of St. Denis, waa
created a cardinal iu 1491*, and died on the 6th of August, 1499.—
DH3CAUSSET, 145.
15H THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMBINES. f 1 l(J5.
rino*, Savellyj", Colonna, and others; all of them earnest
for a new election, and that the Pope might be deposed, who
was then in his castle. Twice our great guns were made
ready to fire (as I have been told by several persons of
quality); but both times the king in his mercy opposed it.
The place is not defensible, being built upon a small hill,
and that merely artificial. It was alleged that the walls
had fallen down by miracle, and they charged his Holiness
with having given money for the papacy, and they said the
truth; but Cardinal Ascanio was the principal merchant, for
it was he that drove the bargain and received most of the
money, besides the house in which the Pope lived when he
was vice-chancellor, with all the rich furniture, and his vice-
chancellorship, and several other places of St. Peter's patri-
mony besides ; for they two were competitors for the pope-
dom. However, I am of opinion they would both have
consented to a new election at the kind's pleasure, though it
had been to choose a Frenchman. I will not pretend to say
whether the king acted well or ill, but I think his best way
was to compose matters amicably, as he did ; for he was a
young man, and incapable of performing so important a
work as the reformation of the Church, though, perhaps, his
strength might have been sufficient. Could he have under-
taken and gone through with it, I question not but all men
of wisdom and reason would have acknowledged it to have
bee; a good, great, and holy work ; but great mystery would
havt been necessary. However, the king's intentions were
good, and are so still, if he were vigorously assisted.
The king took another course, and came to an accommo-
dation | with the Pope, which could not possibly last long,
for it was too violent in some points, and there was great
talk of making an alliance, of which we shall speak more
hereafter. By this agreement there was to be peace
between the Pope and his cardinals; and the said cardinals
* Federigo de Sanseverino, fourth son of Robert Count of Cajazzo,
was made a cardinal in 1489, and died on the 7th of August, 1516. —
Aubery, ii. 600.
f Giambattista Savelli, a noble Roman, was made a cardinal on the
15th of May, 1480, and died on the 18th of September, 1498. — Aubery,
ii 518.
X Dated on the 15th of January, 1495.
1495.] THE KING LEAVES ROME FOR NATLES. 159
were to receive all the rights and perquisites belonging to
their dignities, as well absent as present; and the Pope was
to deliver four towns to the king, Terracina, Civita Vecchia,
Viterbo (which was in his hands already), and Spoleto ; but
this last he never delivered, notwithstanding his promise.
All these towns were to be restored to the Pope upon the
king's return out of Naples, which was performed on the
king's part, though the Pope had not dealt fairly with him.
By this agreement he also delivered the Grand Seignior's
brother* to the king, for whom he received constantly
every year of the Great Turk forty-five thousand ducats,
for he was greatly afraid of him. He further promised not
to put a legate into any place under the jurisdiction of the
Church without the king's approbation. There were other
articles relating to the consistory, for which and the rest,
his son the cardinal of Yalentia f was given in hostage, who
attended the king instead of a legate. The king on his part
did his filial obedience with all imaginable humility, and the
Pope created two cardinals at his request ; one was Monsieur
Brissonet, who had before been made Bishop of St. Malo ;
the other was the Bishop of Mans J, of the house of Luxem-
bourg, and then resident in France.
Ch. XVI. — How the King departed from Rome to Naples; of the
Transactions in that Kingdom in the Meantime; and an Account oi
the Places the King of France passed through in his March. — 1495.
Matters being adjusted after this manner, the king 'eft
Rome§ seemingly in great friendship with the Pope, hut
* Ziz'm. See note, p. 67. of this volume.
f Ccesar Borgia, a natural son of Pope Alexander VI., was created a
cardinal on the 20th of September, 1493. He resigned his hat in 1498,
in the hope of making a great marriage; and received the titles of
Duke of Komagna in Italy, and Valentinois in France. He died on
tiie 12th of March, 1507, having crowded into a comparatively short lrt'e
til the worst crimes of which human nature is capable.
£ Philippe de Luxembourg, Bishop of Terouenne and Mans, w&a
treated a cardinal on the 27th of January, 1497, and iied on the 2ud
of June, 1519.
§ On the 28th of January, 1495.
160 THK MKMOIRS OF PIULIP DE COMM1NES. [1495.
eight cardinals left the town in a rage, of whom six were
partisans of the vice-chancellor and the cardinal of St. Peter
ad Vincula, though it was supposed this was only a feint
of Ascanio's, and that at bottom he was agreed with the
Pope ; but his brother * had not then declared himself our
enemy. The king marched with his army to Genzano, and
from thence to Velitri, where the Cardinal of Valentia gave
him the slip.
The next morning the king took Monte-fortino by storm,
and put the garrison to the sword. The place belonged to
James Visconti, who had entered into the king's service,
and afterwards deserted him ; for the Visconti are of the
faction of the Ursini. From thence the king marched to
Valmontone, which belonged to the Colonne, and thence ad-
vanced to within four miles of Mount St. John, a stronar
place, which he battered seven or eight hours with his heavy
cannon, and then took it by storm t, and put all or nearly
all the garrison to the sword. It was church land, and be-
longed to the Marquis diPescara^; and there our whole
army joined. From thence the king marched about sixteen
miles to St. Germain, where the new King Ferrand was en-
camped, as I said before, with all the forces he was able to
assemble. There was now no remedy ; this was the place for
Jiim to fight in or not at all, for it was the entrance into his
kingdom, and he was advantageously posted, both in respect
of the river and the mountain. He had also sent a strong
detachment to secure the pass at Cancello, which is in the
mountains, about six miles from St. Germain ; but before
the king's approach, Ferrand retired with great precipita-
tion, and abandoned both the town and the pass. Monsieur
de Guise § commanded the van that day, and the Lord de
Rieux |] was ordered to take the pass at Cancello, which the
* The Duke of Milan.
•f On the 11th of February, 1495.
\ Alfonso de Avalos, Marquis of Pescara, and Lord Chamberlain to
Ferdinand L, King of Naples.
§ Louis D'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours and Count of Guise, after-
wards appointed Viceroy of Naples ; killed in the battle of Cerignola, •
on the 28th of April, 1503. — Anselme, iii. 429.
|| John, Lori of Eieux and Eochefort, Count of Harcourt, and Mar-
shal of Bretagne, born on the 27th of June, 1447, and died on the 9th
of February, 1518.
1 495. J THE KING OF FRANCE ENTERS NAPLES. 161
Arragonians ought to have defended ; but they also abandoned
their post, so that the king entered St. Germain * without
any resistance. King Ferrand retreated to Capua, where
they received him and some few of his retinue, but refused
to admit his whole army. He made no long stay among
them at that time, but only entreated them to continue faith-
ful to him, promising to return the next day ; and away he
posted to Naples, suspecting the rebellion which afterwards
happened there. The greater part of his army he left be-
hind, and commanded them to attend him at Capua; but
when he came back the next day they were all fled. Virgil
Ursini, and his cousin the Count dePettilane, went to Nola,
where they and their party were taken by our men. They
affirmed that they had a safe-conduct, and that we did them
wrong ; and it was true enough, but their passport had not
y<t come to their hands ; however, they paid nothing for
their ransom, only they were plundered, and, to speak the
truth, their loss was very considerable.
From St. Germain the king marched to Mignano and
Teano, and encamped at Calvi, two miles from Capua, where
the inhabitants of that city came to treat with him, and the
king entered it with his whole army.f From Capua he
marched the next day to Aversa, midway between Capua
and Naples, about five miles distant from l^oth. The chief
of the Neapolitans waited on his majesty there, and they
came to an accommodation, by which their ancient liberties
and privileges were secured to them. The king sent thither
before him the Marshal de Gie, the Seneschal of Beaucaire,
tlie President Gannay, who kept the seals, and his secretaries.
King Ferrand, finding how matters went, and seeing the
people and nobility in arms against him, and his great stables
plundered before his face, got immediately aboard a galley,
and made the best of his way to Ischia, which is a small
inland about eighteen miles from Naples. And the King of
France was received into the city of Naples with great
.solemnity and joy^; all the people came out to meet him,
and those who were under the greatest obligation to the
house of Arragon came first, as particularly the family of
* On the 14th of February, 149&.
t On the 19th of February, 1495.
j On Sunday, the 22nd of February, 1495.
vot„ n. v
162 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
the Caraffi, who had at that time from the house of .Arragon
above forty thousand ducats a year, in lands and employ-
ments; for the king3 in that country can dispose of their
own demesnes, as well as other people's ; and I am of opinion
there are not three considerable estates in the whole king-
dom which are not held of the crown or other persons.
Never people expressed so great zeal and affection to any
king or nation as they did to ours ; for they supposed them-
selves delivered from all tyranny, so that everywhere they
willingly submitted to us. The whole country of Calabria
yielded, and the Lord d'Aubigny and Peron de Basche were
sent to command them, without any forces of their own.
The Abruzzi revolted of their own accord, and the town of
Aquila, which was always in the French interest, set them
an example. In Apulia they did the same, all but the
castle of Brindisi, which is strong and well- manned, and
the town of Gallipoli, which had also a strong garrison
in it, or else the inhabitants would have revolted. In
Calabria there were three places which held out for King
Ferrand ; two of them were Amantea and Tropea, anciently
devoted to the house of Anjou, and they at first set up the
arms of France ; but, because the king had given them to
Monsieur de Persi*, and would not make them part of his
own demesnes, they pulled down his arms, and erected the
banners of Arragon. The third place was the castle of
Reggio, which continued firm to the house of Arragon ; but
all that stood out did so for want of being summoned to
surrender; for there was not a sufficient body of troops sent
into Apulia and Calabria to have kept one castle for the
king. Tarento voluntarily surrendered both castle and
town, and so did Otranto, Monopoli, Trani, Manfredonia,
Barletta, and all but those places which I excepted before.
They came three days' journey to meet our army, and
hedged of us to receive their respective cities into our pro-
tection. They sent likewise all of them to Naples, and all
the princes and great lords of the kingdom came thither to
do homage to our king, except the Marquis de Pescara, but
his brothers and nephews came. The Count d'Acri and
* Francois d'Alegre, Count of Joigny, Baron of Viteaux, and Lord
of Precy, was Grand Master of the Woods and Forests of Fiance in
1495.
1495.] KING FERRAND SAILS TO SICILY. 163
the Marquis de Squillazzo fled into Sicily, because our king
had given their estates to the Lord d'Aubigny. There also
arrived at Naples the Prince of Salerno, newly come from
sea; but he had done nothing considerable. His cousin, the
Prince of Bisignano, was there also with his brothers, and
the Dukes of Melfi * and Gravina "j", and the old Duke of
Sora, who heretofore had sold his duchy to the Cardinal of
St. Peter ad Vincula, whose brother J enjoys it at this
day. The Counts of Monterio, Fondi, Tripalda, and Celano
(which last had been banished a long time, and was re-
turned with the king) came also to Naples. The Count de
Troye, a young Scottish gentleman, but educated in France,
was there also, and the Count de Popoli, whom we found
prisoner in Naples. The young Prince of Rossano, who, as
I said before, was long a prisoner with his father, who had
been confined thirty-four years, was released, and accom-
panied King Ferrand to Ischia. There came also to Naples
the Marquis de Venafro, all the Caldoresques §, the Count
de Matalon, and the Count de Merillano, whose predecessors
had always governed the house of Arragon ; and, in short,
all the nobility of that kingdom, except the three persons
whom I mentioned before.
Ch. XVII. — How King Charles was crowned King of Naples; tho
Errors he committed in his Government of that Kingdom; and of the
Discovery of a Design in his Favour against the Turks by the Vene-
tians.—1495.
King Ferrand, when he fled from Naples, left the Mar-
quis of Pescara and some Germans in the castle, and sailed
himself into Sicily to demand succour of his father. Don
* Trojanus Carracciolo, in whose favour the dukedom of Melfi was
erected into a principality.
f Francesco Orsini, Duke of Gravina, strangled, by order of Caesar
Borgia, on the 18th of January, 1503. — Sismondi, xiii. 182.
J Giovanni della Kovere, Duke of Sora and Acri, and F:efcct of
Rome, died in 1501.
§ The Caldoresehi, or members of the Caldora family.
u .
164 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1495.
Frederic still kept at sea with some few galleys, and came
twice (with a passport) to treat with our king. His de-
mands were, that some part of the kingdom should be
left to his nephew, with the title of king ; and that he
ehould himself enjoy all the lands which belonged to him and
his wife. His request was not unreasonable, for his own
estate was but small : the king offered to give both him and
his nephew an equivalent in France ; and I am of opinion his
majesty would have given them some considerable duchy, but
they did not think fit to accept it ; besides, there was no
trusting them in the kingdom of Naples ; for they would
have observed no articles of agreement any longer than it
had been for their advantage. So we erected our batteries
against the castle of Naples, and began to fire upon it. The
Marquis de Pescara was gone out of it, and there were only
A few Germans in it. Had we sent but four of our great
guns into the island, we had certainly carried it ; but from
thenceforward our misfortunes returned. For all the rest of
the towns (which were not above four or five) would have
fallen into our hands of course; but we spent our time in
gaiety, entertainments, dancing, and tournaments, and grew so
insolent and vain, we scarce considered the Italians to be
men. Our king was crowned, and had his lodgings in the
castle of Capoana, and sometimes went to Mont-Imperial * :
to the subjects of that kingdom he did many good acts, and
abated their taxes ; so that I believe the people would
never have rebelled of themselves (though they are natu-
rally inconstant), had we but obliged some few of the no-
bility; but they were slighted, and treated uncivilly at the
very gates. Those of the house of Caraffa (though friends
to the house of Arragon) were used the best ; yet they
escaped not quite without loss. Every one else was de-
prived of his offices and estate; and the partisans of the
house of Anjou fared a great deal worse than the friends of
Arragon. Orders were sent into the county of Merillano,
and the President Gannay and the seneschal (lately made
Duke of Nola, and grand chamberlain of the kingdom) were
suspected to have taken money for obtaining them : by
- Fnwably Fog-gio Reale, a palace near Naples, which Charles VIII
Hrequentlv visited.
1495.] DESIGN AGAINST THE TCIIICS. lOfl
those orders every one was to be confirmed in his posses-
sions, only the partisans of the house of Anjou were to be
excluded from their estates, unless they could make good
their titles by law ; and for such as had entered of their own
accord (as the Count di Celano) they were to be ejected by
force. All estates and offices were conferred upon two 01
three Frenchmen, and all the stores of provision in the
castle of Naples (which were found to be very considerable
upon the taking of it) were given to any man that asked,
with the king's knowledge and consent.
During these transactions the Germans capitulated, and
delivered up the castle, keeping all the goods that were in
it (to a vast value) for themselves. Another castle, called
Castel del Ovo, was taken by storm ; by which it may be
perceived that what was done was not done so much by
the condi.ct or dexterity of the agents, as by the provi-
dence of God ; but the great faults that were committed
were the works of men puffed up by vain glory, and un-
willing to acknowledge from whence their success and
honour proceeded ; and their misfortune was the pure
product of their own depraved nature and experience :
so that their fortune changed as suddenly and visibly
as the day rises in Norway or Iceland, where the days in
summer are longer than in other parts, and one day is
scarce ended until within a quarter of an hour before the
next begins to dawn. In the same manner a wise man
might have observed the face of their good fortune alter,
and that enterprise miscarry (which, if had been ascribed to
the true manager of it), would have contributed mightily to
the honour and advantage of all Christendom. For the
Turkish empire would have been as easily shaken as Al-
phonso's kingdom ; for the emperor is still alive, and is a
man of no reputation or courage, and his brother was in
our king's hands (though he lived but a few days after the
Cardinal of Valentia made his escape, and was supposed to
have been poisoned), and the sultan dreaded him above all
persons in the world. Besides, in the very heart of his
empire there were thousands of Christians ready to take
up arms; and from Otranto to Valona* is not above sixty
* Avlona, or Valona, a town in Albania, situated on the headland
known as Cape Linguetta, in the Adriatic Sea.
166 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1495
miles, and from Valona to Constantinople about eighteen
days' journey, as I have been informed by men who have
often travelled between those places, and in all the way
there are not above two or three strong towns, the rest
having been dismantled. The countries that lie between
are Albania, Sclavonia, and Greece, all of them very po-
pulous, and acquainted with the fame and character of our
king by their correspondents in Venice and Apulia, to whom
they wrote constantly, and awaited only their directions
to rebel. The king sent thither to them the Archbishop
of Durazzo*, who was an Albanian born ; and, discours-
ing with multitudes of the children and grandchildren of
several great lords, descendants of Scanderbegf, one son
of the Emperor of Constantinople |, several of the nephews
of the Lord Constantine§ (at present Governor of Mont-
ferrat), and some nephews or cousins to the King of Servia,
he found them all inclinable to revolt. In Thessaly above
five thousand men would have appeared, and Scutari and
Croia would have been surprised by means of the Lord Con-
stantine, who lay concealed several days in my house at
Venice ; for Macedonia and Thessaly, which formerly be-
longed to Alexander the Great, were his inheritance. Va-
lona is situated in them ; Scutari and Croia are not far off;
but in his time his father or uncle || mortgaged them to the
Venetians, who lost Croia, and Scutari was surrendered to
the Turk upon articles of peace. \. The said Lord Con-
stantine was at that time within three leagues of them ; and
* Paolo Angelo, Archbishop of Durazzo, a native of Drivasto in
Albania, and a friend and councillor of Scanderbeg. — Hammer, iii
123.
f George Castriota, suraamed Iskender-beg, or the Lord Alexander,
was an Albanian prince, celebrated for his heroic warfare against the
Turks. He was born in 1404, and died in 1467. His death was soon
followed by the entire submission of Albania to the Turkish yoke.
J Probably Thomas Palasologus, son of the Emperor Manuel, and
brother of Constantine Dragases, the last Emperor of Constantinople.
§ Constantine Aranito, of the family of the Comneni, and uncle to
Mary Duchess of Montferrat.
|| George, son of Stracimer Balch, Prince of Scutari, gave that town
to the Venetians in 1394. — Mdratori, xxii. 762.
\. Croia, in Albania, was given to the Venetians by Scanderbtg, and
surrendered to Mahomet II. on the 15th of June, 1478. S*nitari was
ceded by treaty on the 26th of January, 1479.— Hammes, iii 227
1495] ARCHBISHOP OF DUHAZZO TAKEN. lG"*
the enterprise would have been executed, had not the Arch-
bishop of Durazzo stayed at Venice some time after Con-
stantine's departure. I pressed him hard to depart, for I
thought him a person that could not keep a secret long; and
he went up and down boasting that he was ahout an atfair
which would make him celebrated all over Christendom. By
ill fortune, on the very day that the Venetians had news of
the death of the Turk's brother, whom the Pope had deli-
vered to our king, they resolved to give notice of it to
the Sultan by one of their secretaries ; and being assured
that whoever brought the first news would be certain of a
great reward, they ordered that no vessel should pass between
the two castles in the night (which castles command the
entrance of the gulf of Venice); to prevent which they
posted guards at both of them, being fearful of nothing so
much as the small vessels and grips*, as they call them, of
which there are great numbers in the ports of Albania, and
their islands in Greece.
The poor archbishop happened that very night to set out
upon the Lord Constantine's enterprise, and carrying along
with him abundance of swords, bucklers, and javelins, for the
useof hisconfederates who wanted them; as he passed between
the two castles he was stopped and taken, and himself and
servants secured in one of them ; but the vessels had leave
to go on. They searched him, and found letters about him
that discovered the whole plot ; and the Lord Constantine
has told me since that the Venetians sent immediate notice
to all the Turkish garrisons that were near, and an express
to the Grand Signor himself; so that, had it not been for
the grip which they suffer to pass (whose master was an
Albanian who gave him notice), the Lord Constantine had
been taken ; but he escaped by sea, and got away into
Apulia,
• SmaJ vessels corresponding Tith our modem brigantinc*.
1 68 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. [ I 495.
Ch. XVIII. — A Digression or Discourse, by no Means unconnected
with the main Subject, in which Philip de Commines, Author of this
present Book, speaks at some Length of the State and Government of
the Signory of Venice, and of what he saw, and what was done, while
he was Ambassador from the King of Trance in the City of Venice.
—1495.
It is now high time for me to say something of the Vene-
tians, and of the occasion of my being sent thither in an
embassy while the king was employed in his affairs at
Naples. I was sent from Asti to return them thanks for
the civil and obliging answers they had given to two former
ambassadors from his majesty, and to endeavour, if possible,
to continue them in his friendship, and to cultivate a good
understanding with them ; for he saw their power, wisdom,
and conduct was more like to disturb him than any other
state in Italy. The Duke of Milan hastened my despatch,
and wrote to his resident there (where he constantly had
one) to assist me, and give me instructions to whom I should
apply myself. His ambassador had an allowance from the
Signory of a hundred ducats a month, his lodgings well
furnished, and three gondolas to carry him about the town
without expense ; and the Venetian ambassador has the same
at Milan, excepting the boats ; for there they go on horse-
back, and at Venice in boats. In my journey thither I
passed by several of their cities, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza,
Padua, and other places. I was treated very civilly wher-
ever I came, in honour to the monarch who sent me, and the
people came out to meet me in great bodies, with their
Podesta or captain * ; both of them never came out to-
gether, but the captain met me at the gate. When I had
entered the town I was conducted to my lodgings ; the
master of the house was commanded that I should want no-
thing, and my whole charges were borne, and mighty good
words given me into the bargain ; yet, if you compute what
must necessarily be given to the drums, trumpets, and officers
in those ceremonies, an ambassador will be found to save
but little ; however, my reception was most honourable.
* The Podesta was the civil governor of the town* the captain the
military commandant.
149.".] C0M3nxES enters Venice. 1U9
The day that I made my entry into Venice they sent
to meet me as far as Fusinn, which is five miles from
Venice ; there you leave the boats which bring you down
the river * from Padua, and get into little boats covered
with tapestry and very neat, with fair carpets within, and
velvet cushions to sit upon. To this place you come from
, Venice by sea, as it is the next place to Venice upon terra
firma ; but the sea (unless agitated by some storm) is very
calm, which is the reason of the great abundance of all sorts
of fish. I was extremely surprised at the situation of this
city, to see so many churches, monasteries, and houses, and
all in the water; and the people have no other passage up
and down the streets but in boats, of which, I believe, they
have near thirty thousand, but they are very small. About
the city, within less than the compass of half a French
league, there are seventy religious houses both of men and
women, all situated in little islands, very beautiful and
magnificent both in building and furniture, with fair gardens
belonging to them; without reckoning those in the city,
where there are the four orders of mendicants, and seventy-
two parishes, besides several fraternities ; and, indeed, it is
most strange to behold so many stately churches in the sea.
I was met and complimented at Fusina by five and twenty
gentlemen, richly dressed in silks and scarlets; they wel-
comed me with abundance of civility, and conducted me to
St. Andrew's church, which was near the town, where as
many other gentlemen met and complimented me. These
were accompanied by the ambassadors of Milan and Ferrara ;
and alter they had made another speech to me I was con-
ducted into other larger boats, which they called Plats, two
of which were covered with crimson satin, and spread with
tape-try at the bottom, big enough to hold forty persons ;
and placing me between the two ambassadors (the middle
being the most honourable place in Italy), I was conducted
through the principal street, which they call the Grand
Canal, and it is so wide that galleys frequently cross one
another ; indeed I have seen vessels of four hundred tons or
more ride at anchor just by the houses. It is the fairest and
best-built street, I think, in the world, and goes quite through
th2 city; the houses are very large and loity, and built of
* The Brcuta.
170 thE MEMuins of ruiLir de commixes. ri 495
u
stone; the old ones are all painted; those of about a hun-
dred years standing are faced with white marble from Istria
^which is about a hundred miles from Venice), and inlaid
with porphyry and serpentine. Within they have, most of
them, two chambers at least adorned with gilt ceilings, rich
marble chimney-pieces, bedsteads of gold colour, their por-
tals of the same, and most gloriously furnished. In short,
it is the most triumphant city that I have ever seen, the
most respectful to all ambassadors and strangers, governed
with the greatest wisdom, and serving God with the most
solemnity ; so that, though in other things tliey miglit be
faulty, I believe God blesses them for the reverence they
show in the service of the church.
In the company of these fifty gentlemen I was conveyed
to St. George's (which is an abbey of reformed black friars),
wher» I had an apartment prepared for me. The next
morning they came to wait on me again, and conducted me
to the Signory, where I delivered my credentials to the
Doge *, who presides in all their councils, and is honoured
as a king. AH letters are addressed to him, but of himself
lie cannot do much ; yet this one had greater authority than
any of his predecessors, for he had been Doge for above
twelve years ; and I found him a prudent man, of great ex-
perience in the affairs of Italy, and civil and courteous in
Ids person. The first day of my arrival was spent in receiv-
ing their compliments, and viewing three or four chambers
in the duke's palace ; in which the ceilings, beds, and portals
were all richly gilt ; the apartments are very fine, but the
court is not large. The palace is splendid and rich in all it
contains, being built of finely carved marble, and the whole
front and lacings are of stone, gilt an inch thick ; and there
are in this palace four handsome saloons, richly gilt, and
very spacious. The Doge from his own chamber can hear
mass at the high altar in the chapel of St. Mark, which, for
a chapel, is the most magnificent piece of building in the
universe, being built of mosaic work in every part, of which
they pretend to be the inventors ; and, indeed, it is a great
trade amongst them, as I have seen.
* Agostito Barberigo, elected Doge :n the 3Cth of August, 1486
held the office for fifteen years.
1495.] DESCRIPTION OF VENICE. 171
In this chapel their treasure (of which so much is said) is
kept, and intended only for the decoration of their churches ;
there are twelve or fourteen rubies, the largest I ever saw ;
one of them weighs seven, the other eight hundred carats,
but botli of them are unpolished ; there are twelve other
stones in cases of gold, with the edges and forepart set
richly with very fine jewels. There are also twelve crowns
of gold, wherewith, anciently, upon certain festivals in the
year, twelve women of the city were crowned ; and being
styled and attended as queens, they passed in great pomp
and solemnity through all the churches and islands. But, at
length, certain robbers from Istria and Friuli (which are not
far off), concealed about those islands, took their opportunity
and surprised a number of the women of the city. Their
husbands pursued, overtook, and recovered them ; upon
which they offered up their crowns to St. Mark, and founded
a chapel, to which the Signory repairs every year upon the
day of their victory. There is also great store of rich orna-
ments for the church, with several fair pieces of gold, many
fine amethysts and agates, and some small emeralds. But
this is not a treasure of equal value with ready money, and,
indeed, they have not much of that kind of treasure ; for
the Doge told me in the Senate-house that it is a capital
crime among them to suggest collecting a tivasure of that
nature; and they are right, for it might cause dissension
among them. After they had shown me their treasure I
was carried to see their arsenal, where their galleys are
equipped, and all things necessary provided for their navies ;
which, perhaps, is even now the finest in the world, and was
formerly under better order and regulation.
In short, I resided there eight months at their expense, and
all the other ambassadors who were there had the same treat-
ment ; in which time I can assure you I found them so wise,
and so intent upon enlarging their territories, that, if it be
not prevented in time, all the neighbouring States may
lament it too late. For since our king's expedition into
Italy they have been much more dexterous and skilful in
attacking and defending themselves than formerly ; for they
sire still at war with him, and yet they have extended their
dominions, and lent money upon the security of seven or
eight cities in Apulia, which I am not sure will ever be re
172 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
Btored.* Besides, at the king's first coming into Italy they
did not imagine towns could have been taken so easily (con-
trary to their custom), nor in so short a time ; but since
they have been better instructed in the art of war, they have
fortified their towns very strongly, and other common-
wealths have done the same. It is not to be expected that
they should attain to the perfection and grandeur of the old
Romans, for their bodies are not so able to bear the fatigues
of war, neither are they of such a martial genius ; for they
never make war upon the continent in their own persons, as
the Komans did ; but they send their Proveditori and other
officers, with their general, to furnish his army with provi-
sions, and assist him in his councils of war. But their naval
expeditions are wholly managed by their own people ; their
fleet, both galleys and ships, being manned with their own
subjects, and commanded by their own nobility. Another
great advantage they have by not going in person to the
wars upon terra jirma, and that is, there is no man among
them of that boldness or interest as to dare to make
any attempt to seize the government, as they did in Rome ;
which is great wisdom, and prevents many civil contentions,
against which they have provided in several ways, and all
very wisely. They have no tribunes of the people, as they
had in Rome (and those tribunes were in part the cause of
its destruction) ; the people among them are of no authority,
are consulted in no affair of state, and are incapable of bear-
ing any office ; for all their officers, except the secretaries,
are chosen out of the gentry ; and thus the greater part of
the people have no share in the government. Titus Livius
has acquainted them perfectly with the defects of the Ro-
man government, and they have his history in great esteem,
and his bones are preserved in their palace at Padua ; so
that, for these and many other reasons which I observed
amongst them, I do once more affirm that they are in a fair
way to be a very powerful people hereafter.
* In 1496 Ferdinand II. gave the towns of Otranto, Brindisi, Tram,
Monopoli, and Pulignano to the Venetians as security for a debt of
200,000 ducats which he owed them. But all thi Venetian possessions
in the kingdom of Naples were restorei to Ifeidinand the Catholic in
1509,
I 495. J HIS EMBASS1 TO VENICE. 173
Ch. XIX. — What were the Subjects of the Embassy of the Lora of
Argenton to the Republic of Venice. — 1495.
But to come to the business of my embassy: it was to thank
the Venetians for their civil answers which they had given
to two of our king's ambassadors who had been sent to
them before ; by which answers he was encouraged to pro-
ceed boldly in his enterprise ; and all this passed before his
majesty left Asti.* I gave them a large discourse of the old
alliances between the kings of France and their republic,
and offered them Brindisi and Otranto, upon condition they
would engage to restore them, when my master should de-
liver them two better towns in Greece. They spoke very
honourably both of the king and his affairs ; for they did not
imagine he would proceed veiy far. As to the offer which
I made them, they replied that they were his friends and
servants, and would not permit him to purchase their alli-
ance (for our king had not yet these towns in his power) ;
and that they were not altogether unprovided for war, if
they thought fit to engage in it; but they were resolved not
to do it, though the Neapolitan ambassadors solicited them
daily, and offered them very advantageous terms. And King
Alphonso (who then reigned) confessed he had behaved
himself very ill towards them, and laid before them the ill
consequences which would accrue to them if our master suc-
ceeded in his designs.
The Turk, on the other hand, sent an ambassador imme-
diately to them (and I saw him several times), who, at the
Pope's request, threatened them heavily if they did not de-
clare war against our king. They gave fair answers to all
the ambassadors; for they had no apprehension of us at that
time, and did but laugh at our expedition. For indeed the
Duke of Milan had told them, by his ambassador, that they
need not concern themselves in this affair, for he knew how
to send our king back again, without having got any footing
in Italy; and he sent the same message to Peter de Medicis,
who told me of it afterwards. But when they and the Duke
of Milan saw the king had got those towns of the FlcreiH
• The king left Asti on the 6th of October, 1494.
174 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1195.
tines in his possession, and especially Pisa, they began to
grow afraid of his designs, and to contrive how they might
hinder him from advancing farther ; but their consulta-
tions were tedious, and in the meantime his majesty's affairs
went prosperously on. However, messengers passed con-
stantly from one to the other, and the King of Spain began
to be afraid for his isles of Sicily and Sardinia. The King
of the Romans began also to be jealous of the imperial
crown, upon which he was persuaded by some persons that
our king had a design, and that he had requested it of the
Pope ; but this was not true.
For these reasons the two kings sent formal ambassadors
to Venice during my residence there. The King of the
Romans, being their neighbour, first sent the Bishop of
Trent * as the chief in that embassy, and with him two gen-
tlemen and a doctor-at-law ; they were received with great
ceremony and respect, entertained as handsomely as myself,
had ten ducats a day allowed them for their expense, and
the charge of their horses (which were left at Treviso) was
borne besides. Not long after this there arrived a person of
qualityf from Spain, with a numerous retinue, and in a very
splendid equipage, who was received as honorably as the
other, and his charges also borne. The Duke of Milan, be-
sides the ambassador he had there already, sent the Bishop
of Coino^, and Signor Francisco Bernardino Visconti.§
They began to have private conferences in the night, at
first by means of their secretaries ; for they durst not declare
publicly against the king (especially the Duke of Milan and
the Venetians), not knowing what the success of this con-
federacy might be. The Duke of Mdan's ambassadors made
me a visit, brought me letters from their master, and told
me their coining was in return for the visit of two ambassa-
dors whom the Venetians had sent to Milan ; whereas the
custom was only to have one resident there, and at last they
had no more. But all this was but artifice and deception ;
• Ulrich von Lichtenstein, Bishop of Trent, who died on the 16th of
September, 1505.
f Lorenzo Suarez de Mendoza y Figueroa. — Sismondi, xii. 266.
% Antonio Trivulzio, created a cardinal in 1500, died on the 18th of
March, 1508.— Imhoff, 86.
§ Francesco Bernardo Visconti, elected a ducal councillor in 1484
1495.] IHS EMBASSY TO VENICE. l"5
for they all came on purpose to make an alliance against
our good king, and so many secret cabals could not be
carried on long without becoming known. They next asked
me if I did not know what was the cause of the coming of the
ambassadors from Spain and the King of the Romans, that
they might give their master an account of it. But I was
informed before (by the servants of the ambassadors and
others) that the Spanish ambassador had passed through
Milan in disguise, and that the Germans were -wholly
managed by the duke. Besides, I had notice that the Nea-
politan ambassadors delivered several packets of letters
hourly from their master (for all this was before our king's
departure from Florence). I was at some expense for my
intelligence, but what I had I could depend on. I had
immediate notice of the treaty that was on foot, and what
were the first proposals that were made, but not agreed to ;
for in such consultations the Venetians are very long. For
these reasons, and seeing the alliance near its conclusion, I
would not pretend ignorance, but answered the Milanese
ambassador that, since they carried things so strangely, I
would let them know that my master would not lose the
friendship of the Duke of Milan if there was a possibility
of preserving it, and that I would acquit myself as an am-
bassador, and excuse whatever ill reports might have been
made to the Duke of Milan against my master. The duke,
I presumed, was misinformed, and I said that he would do
well to consider (before he lost the recompense of so great
a service as he had already done the king) that the kings of
France did not use to be ungrateful, and that a rash or
inconsiderate word ought not to break a friendship that was
of such importance to both of them ; and then I desired that
they would inform me of their grievances, that I might ac-
quaint my master with them before they proceeded any
further. They swore to me all of them, with many impre-
cations, that they had no such thoughts ; but they did but
equivocate, for they came thither on purpose to negotiate
this alliance.
The next morning I went to the Signory to expostulate
with them about it, and to say what I thought proper in
the affair; among other things I told them, that by their
alliance with my master, and their former alliance with his
176 'l'HE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [149-5.
father, it was mutually provided that neither should support
the enemies of the other ; and that therefore this new league
that was so much talked of could not be entertained by
them without infraction of their promises. I was desired to
withdraw, and, being called in again by and by, the Doge
told me that I ought not to believe all the flying reports of
the town ; for in Venice all people had the liberty of saying
what they pleased. However, lie assured me they never
had any thoughts of entering into an alliance against the
king, nor ever had heard of it; but that their designs were
quite contrary, and rather to make a league between my
master, the two other kings, and all Italy, against the Turk,
and that each should bear his proportion in the charge of
the war ; and that if in Italy there should be any State or
prince that refused to pay his share, the king and they
together should compel him to do it. As to the war in
which my master was at present engaged, they told me that
they would endeavour to make an honourable peace for him ;
and the terras which they proposed were, that my master
should accept of a good sum of ready money, which they
would advance upon the caution of certain towns in Apulia
(which are now in their possession) ; and that the kingdom
of Naples should be held of him by the Pope's consent, and
pay him an annual tribute ; and that my master should
keep three towns in his hands as a security. I wish to God
he had accepted those advantageous offers.
I replied that I had no instructions to enter into any
such treaty ; and I desired that they would not be over-
hasty in the conclusion of their alliance, that I might have
time to acquaint my master with their proceedings, re-
questing them (as I had done the others), that they would
acquaint me with their grievances, and not conceal them as
the ambassadors of Milan had done. Then they plainly
told me that they were not pleased with the king's having
seized upon the Pope's towns, much less with what he had
taken from the Florentines, and particularly Pisa; alleging
that my master had written to several princes, and to them
among the rest, that he would meddle with nothing in Italy
but the kingdom of Naples, and that, having conquered that,
he would undertake an expedition against the Turk ; but
that, nevertheless, he seemed desirous to get all he could
1495.] THli VENETIANS C\UAE AGAINST TilE KING. 177
conquer in Italy, and not meddle with the Turk at all.
They told me also that the Duke of Orleans' continuance at
Asti was a great terror to the Duke of Milan, and that the
ministers of the Duke of Orleans had threatened him highly.
However, they promised to conclude nothing before I had
an answer from my master, or at least before a convenient
time to receive it was past ; and they showed me more
respect than the Duke of Milan. I acquainted his majesty
with every particular, but his answer was unsatisfactory ;
after which they had conferences every day, for they knew
their designs were discovered. The King of France was at
Florence in the meantime ; and if he had met with any oppo-
sition at Viterbo, as was expected, they would have sent
forces to Rome ; and they would have done the same if King
Ferrand had continued at Rome, for they could not imagine
he would have abandoned the city ; but, when they saw he
was retired, they began to be afraid. Yet the ambassadors
from the two kings pressed them hard to come to some reso-
lution, declaring they would otherwise be gone ; for they had
been there four months, every day soliciting the Signory;
and I was as diligent in making an interest against them.
Cn. XX. — How the Lord of Argenton was informed that the King had
gained Possession of Naples and the Plaees round about; at which
the Venetians were displeased. — 1495.
When the Venetians understood that several towns in Italy
had surrendered, and were informed of the king's being at
Naples, they sent for me to tell me the news, and pretended
to be extremely pleased with it; yet they gave me to un-
derstand that the castle held out still against him ; that
there was a strong garrison in it, and provided with every
thing necessary for its defence; and I could perceive they
had great hopes it would never be taken. Upon which
ground they had consented that the Neapolitan ambassador
should raise forces in Venice to be sent to Brindisi, and
were just upon the conclusion of their league, wiien their
ambassadors acquainted them by letter of the surrender o(
VOL. II. M
178 THE MEMOIRS OF rHII.II' DE COMM1NES. [1495.
the castle of Naples.* They sent for me again one morning
and I found about fifty or sixty of them assembled in their
Doge's chamber, who was at that time ill of the cholic. The
Doge, with a composed countenance, rather inclining to joy,
told me the news ; but there was none in all the company
could counterfeit so well as himself. Some of them sate
upon low seats, with their elbows upon their knees, and
their heads between their hands ; others in other postures,
but all expressing great sorrow at heart ; and I believe after
the battle of Cannae there was not more terror felt by the
senators of Rome ; for not one of them had courage enough
to look upon me or speak to me but the Doge himself,
which I thought was very strange. The Doge asked me
whether the king my master would now perform what he
had always promised, and I had always told them. I assured
them he would, and promised them to use my utmost en-
deavours, by way of mediation, in hopes by this means to
pacify their fears and jealousies ; and then I took my leave
of them.
Their league as yet was neither broken off nor concluded ;
but the Germans were dissatisfied, and wished to be gone.
The Duke of Milan would not consent to some of the articles ;
but at length he sent instructions to his ambassadors to dis-
patch, and in a short time the league was concluded. "Whilst
this affair was in agitation I wrote constantly to our king,
advising him to make peace, or else to continue in that king-
dom, and provide himself better with men and money; but,
if he did not approve of my advice, that he would be pleased
to make good his retreat towards France, and put strong
garrisons into the chief towns, before the confederates had
assembled their forces. 1 wrote also to the Duke of Orleans,
who was at Asti, but attended by his own domestics only (for
1 lis forces were with the king), and advised him to throw
more men into that town, assuring him that he would sud-
denly be besieged in it. 1 sent likewise to the Duke of
Uourbon (whom the king had left as his lieutenant in France)
to send what forces he could spare to reinforce the garrison
of Asti , for if that town were lost, no supplies could be sent
to the king. I also gave notice to the Marchioness of Mont-
• Od the 13th of March, 1495.
1495.] TI1E VENETIANS DECLARE HOSTILITIES. 1 7f
ferrat (who was true to the French, and a great enemy to
♦,he Duke of Milan), that she might be ready to assist the
Duke of Orleans with her forces, if there should be occasion t
for the taking of A-ti would entail on her the loss of the two
marquisates of Montferrat and Saluzzo.
The league was concluded one night very late*; the next
morning I was sent for by the Signory somewhat earlier than
usual. As soon as I came thither, and had taken my seat,
the Doge told me, that in honour to the H ly Trinity they
had entered into an alliance with our Holy Father the Pope,
the Kings of the Romans and of Castile, and the Duke of
Milan, for three principal objects: one was to defend Chris-
tendom against the Turk ; the second was the defence of
Italy; and the third the preservation of their territories,
which they desired I would notify to the king my master.
They were in all about a hundred or more, looked very gay,
and held their heads high, and there was no such sadness in
tlieir countenances as upon the day when they heard of the
surrender of the castle of Naples. They also told me that
they had written to their ambassadors, who were attending
on our king, to take their leave, and return to Venice. One
of their ambassadors was Dominico Loredano, and the other
Dominico Trevisano. I was extremely troubled and concerned
for my master's person, as I feared that he and his whole
army were in great danger ; for I thought the confederates
were much forwarder than they were (as they also thought
themselves), and that some German troops had been near at
hand. If it had been so, the king could never have got out
of Italy. I had resolved within myself to speak little in my
passion ; but they provoked me beyond the bounds I had set
myself. I told them that the night before I had sent my
master notice of their alliance (as I had done often), and that
he had written me word he had news of it, both from Milan
and Rome. The Doge seemed to be surprised to hear I had
written concerning the alliance on the night before ; for there
are no people in the world so jealous, nor who keep their
counsels so secret as they; and upon bare suspicion they
many times imprison their dearest friends. Upon that con-
6ideration I told them further, that I had written to the
• On the 31st of March, 1 495.— Sismondi, xii. 270.
H 2
ISO THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COM5I1NE9. L1_^5
Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon to take care to reinforce the
garrison of Asti ; and I said this in hopes to discourage them
from attempting to surprise it, which they might certainly
have done, had they been as ready as they pretended; for it
was in a weak posture of defence a long time after. They re-
plied that they had no hostile intentions against the king ;
that what they had done, or should do, would be only in
defence of themselves ; and they could not suffer that my
master should amuse all Europe with his fair words, as he
had done, saying that he wanted nothing but the kingdom of
Naples, and would next turn his arms against the Turk ; and
that then he should falsify his word, act quite contrary, pos-
sess himself of what he could in the territories both of the
Florentines and the Pope, and endeavour to destroy the Duke
of Milan. To which I answered, that the kings of France
had been so far from defrauding the Church of any of its re-
venues, that, on the contrary, they had always augmented
them, and defended its rights ; that those could not be the
reasons for their league, as they pretended, but that they had
a desire to involve Italy in new troubles, to make their ad-
vantage out of them, and that I thought they intended to do
it. They resented that expression of mine, as I was in-
formed afterwards; however, it proved true, as appeared by
the towns which King Ferrand pledged to them in Apulia
to induce them to assist him against us. I rose up to take
leave, but they made me sit down again ; and the Doge asked
me if I had any overtures of peace to make, because on the
day before I had said something to that purpose ; but that
was only offered in case they would have protracted the con-
clusion of the league for fifteen days longer, that I might have
had time to write to his majesty, and receive his answer.
After this I retired to my lodgings, and they sent for the
rest of the ambassadors one after another. At my coming
out of the council I met the Neapolitan ambassador in a fine
new gown, and very gay ; and indeed he had reason to be so,
for this was a lucky turn of affairs for him. After dinner
all the ambassadors of the league met together in boats upon
t\ae water (which in Venice is their chief recreation); the
whole number of their boats (which are provided at the
charge of the Signory, and proportioned to every man's re-
tinue) was about forty, every one of them adurned with the
1495.] PROCLAMATION OF THi: LEAGUE. 181
arms of their respective masters ; and in this pomp they
passed under my windows with their trumpets and other
instruments of music. The amhassadors of Milan (at least one
of them), who had kept me company fur many months, would
take no manner of notice of me now. For three days together
I and my domestics kept within doors ; though indeed I
cannot say either they or I were affronted all the while,
At night there were extraordinary fire- works upon the
turrets, steeples, and tops of the ambassadors' houses, multi-
tudes of bonfires were lighted, and the cannon all round the
city were fired. I was in a covei'ed boat, rowing by the
wharves to see this triumphal sight, about ten o'clock at
night, especially before the ambassadors' houses, where there
was great banqueting.
But this was not the day on which the league was pro-
claimed ; for the Pope had sent to them to defer it for some
days, till Palm-Sunday, at which time he had ordered that
every prince in whose dominions it was published, and all
the ambassadors then with him, should carrvan olive-branch
in their hand, in token of their alliance and peace ; and that
upon the same day it should be published both in Germany
and Spain. At Venice they made, a gallery of wood a good
height above the ground (as they are wont to do at the in-
auguration of their Doges), which reached from the palace to
the end of the piazza of St. Mark ; upon which (after mass
had been sung by the Pope's nuncio, who absolved all people
who were present at the solemnity) they marched in proces-
sion ; the Signory and the ambassadors all very splendidly
dressed, several of them in crimson velvet gowns which the
Signory had presented to them, at least to the Germans ;
and all their retinue in new gowns, but these were a little
of the shortest. After the procession was ended, a great
many pageants and mysteries were exhibited to the people :
first of all, Italy, and then the allied kings and princes,
and the Queen of Spain. At their return, at a porphyry
stone, where such things are usually done, proclamation was
made, and the alliance published. There was at that time
a Turkish ambassador, who looked privately through a
window and saw this solemnity. He had taken leave, but
was asked to stay to see this festival ; and at night, by the
assistance of a Greek, he paid me a visit, and stayed four
h 5
182 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
hours in my chamber ; and his great desire was to cultivate
a friendship betwixt his master and mine. I was twice in-
vited to this feast, but desired to be excused ; yet I stayed
nearly a month after in the town, and was all the while as
civilly entertained as before the publication of this alliance.
At length I was recalled ; and, having had an audience of
leave, they gave me a passport, and conducted me safely to
Ferrara at their own expense. The Duke of Ferrara came
in person to meet me, and entertained me two days very
handsomely at his own charge. The same civility I received
at Bologna from Prince John Bentivoglio ; and, being sent
for to Florence, I continued there in expectation of my
master's coming, with the relation of whose affairs I shall
now proceed.
1495.] POSITION OF AFFAIRS IN NAPLES. 183
BOOK THE EIGHTH.
Ch. I. — Of the Order in which the King left his Affairs in the Kingdom
of Naples upon his Return into France. — 1495.
To continue my Memoirs, and for your better information,
we must return to our discourse of the king, who, from his
first arrival at Naples to his departure, minded nothing but
his pleasures, and his ministers attended to nothing but their
own advantage. His youth might excuse him in some mea-
sure ; but nothing could excuse them, for the king referred
all to their management ; and if they only had had the
discretion to advise him to put strong garrisons into three
or four of the chief castles, such as that of Gaeta ; nay, if
he had only garrisoned the castle of Naples (whose maga-
zines and furniture had been given away and embezzled, as
you have heard), the kingdom of Naples had been his at this
day ; for, if he had been master of that castle, the town
would never have revolted. Upon the conclusion of this
Italian alliance, he assembled all his forces together,
and ordered 500 French men-at-arms, 2,500 Swiss, and
some French foot to remain to guard the kingdom ; and
with the rest he resolved to march back into France by the
same way he came ; while the confederates were determined
to stop him. The King of Spain had sent, and was still
sending, his caravels * into Sicily, though with but few men
on board them. However, before our king's departure they
had garrisoned Rheggio in Calabria, which is near to
Sicily. I had often acquainted my master with their designs
of sending supplies thither, for the ambassador of Naples
had told me so, supposing they had got there already ; and
if the king had sent any forces thither in time, he would cer-
* A sort of vessels with sails and oars, much used in the Mediter*
rauean,
K 4
"U THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP PE COMMINES. [ 1 495.
tainly have taken the castle; and the town had declared for
him before. For want of our sending thither, the enemy landed
forces at Mantia and Tropea. The townsmen of Otranto in
Apulia had set up our king's colours ; hut, being informed of
the new alliance, and considering how near neighbours they
were both to Brindisi and Gallipoli, and how difficult it
would be to furnish themselves with troops, they pulled
them down again, and erected the standard of Arragon ;
and Don Frederic, who was at Brindisi, supplied them with
a garrison. There was a universal change in the minds of
the people through the whole kingdom ; and fortune, which
had been so propitious but two months before, began now to
frown upon us ; both in relation to the alliance, the king's
departure, and the great want in which he left the kingdom,
and that rather in respect of officers than soldiers.
The supreme command was committed to Monsieur de
Montpensier* of the house of Bourbon, a brave soldier, and
a noble gentleman ; but his valour was greater than his wis-
dom, and, besides, he was so intolerably lazy, he would never
rise till noon. In Calabria he left the Lord d'Aubigny, a
Scotchman (a brave and worthy knight), to command in
chief. The king had made him grand constable of the
kingdom, and given him (as I said before) the county of
Acri, and the marquisate of Squiilazzo. At his first com-
ing thither the king had made the seneschal of Beaucaire,
Stephen de Vers, governor of Gaeta, Duke of Nola, and
lord high chamberlain, and all the money in that kingdom
passed through his hands ; but he took more upon him than
he was able to perform ; yet he was very desirous of keep-
ing the kingdom of Naples. The king created the Lord Dom
Julian f of Lorraine, Duke of St. Angelo, in which post he be-
haved himself with a great deal of honour and reputation. Pie
left Gabriel de MontfauconJ at Manfredonia. He was a per-
son for whom the king had a great esteem ; but he managed
* Gilbert de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier, Archduke of Sessa, and
Viceroy of Naples. He died at Pozzuolo on the 5th of October, 1496.
f Antoine de Ville, Lord of Domjulien, and Duke of Sant' Angelo in
the kingdom of Naples, died at Naples in 1504.
% Gabriel de Montfaucon, knight, Bailiff of Meaux, councillor and
chamberlain to the King of France, and lieutenant of the hundred gen-
tlcinen-at-arms of the royal household.
149".] POSITION OF AFFAIRS IN NArLES. 185
things imprudently there ; for, though he found it well pro-
vided witli corn and everything else, yet he delivered it
up in four days for want of provisions. To all his followers
the king gave great estates in land ; but several sold what-
ever they found in their castles, and it was reported
that Gabriel did so too. At Trani he left William de
Villeneuf * to defend the town ; but, being betrayed and sold
by some of his own servants to Frederic, he was kept by
him a long time in the galleys. He left Tarento to the com-
mand of George de Suillyj", who behaved himself well, and
held out till he was forced by famine to surrender, and then
died there of the plague. In Aquila he placed the bailiff of
VitryJ, who discharged his duty as he ought to do ; and
Gratian des Guerres § did the same in Abruzzo. The king
left them very little money, only assignments upon the
revenue, and of that but very little was ever raised. The
king took care to make a handsome provision for the
princes of Salerno and Bisignano, who served him faith-
fully, as long as it was in their power to do so. He also
gratified the Colonne in whatever they demanded, and gave
them and their friends the possession of about thirty towns;
which, if they had defended as they ought and as they swore
to do, they would have done his majesty singularservice, and
reaped the honour and advantage of it themselves ; for I do
not believe they had been so great for a hundred years
before. But they had no patience to stay till the king had
left Italy, before they fell to caballing. It is true they were
engaged with us upon the Duke of Milan's account, for
they are naturally Gibellines. However, that ought not to
have led them to break their oaths, especially after they had
been so civilly treated ; besides, the king had done more for
* Guillnume de Villcneufve, knight, councillor and steward to King
Charles VIII., has left an account of his master's wars in Italy, in which
he states that, being left with forty men to guard Trani, thirty-two of
his party were suborned by Don Frederic to deliver up the castle.
Villcneufve was kept four months in the galleys; after which he was
confined for eight months in the Castel Nuovo at Naples, and released
on the 7th of August, 1496.
f George de Sully. Lord of Ccrs and Romefort.
% Claude de Lenoncourt, Lord of Harouel, and Bailiff" of Vitry from
1483 to 1497.
§ Gaiciu d'Agucrre, Lord c' Aubenton.
186 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
them than tins ; for, under pretence of friendship, he carried
prisoners with him the Lord Virgil Ursini and the Count de
Petillane, and several others of the Ursini who were their
enemies ; which, indeed, was a little severe, for, though they
were prisoners of war, yet the king knew they were to
have had passports. But his intention was to carry them no
farther than Asti, and then to dismiss them upon their
pnrole of honour. This he did at the request of the
Colonne ; and yet, before he could get thither, the Colonne
revolted, and appeared the first against him without the least
pretence or occasion.
Jb. IT. — How the King departed from Naples, and returned to Rome,
from whence the Pope fled to Orvieto; of the Conference the King
had with the Lord of Argenton upon his Return from Venice ; and
his Deliberation about the Restitution of the Florentine Towns. — 1495.
As soon as the king had settled his affairs as he designed,
he began his march with what forces he could collect,
which, I believe, were about nine hundred men-at arms ( in-
cluding his guards), and two thousand five hundred Swiss ;
in all, of his standing army about seven thousand men,
besides about fifteen hundred more who followed the camp
as servants, and were able to bear arms. The Count de
Petillane, who had reviewed them, and knew their number
better than I did, told me after the battle (of which I shall
speak presently) that they were nine thousand effective
men. The king bent his march directly towards Rome *,
where his Holiness, having no mind to attend him, deter-
mined to go to Padua, and put himself under the protection
of the Venetians, and lodgings were prepared for him in
that city ; but afterwards they changed their minds, and
both they and the Duke of Milan sent forces to him to Rome
for the defence of the town, which arrived in time enough ;
yet the Pope durst not stay, though the king had done him
* He left Naples on the 20th of May, 1495, and enterei Rome on the
1st of June following.
1495.] FLIGHT OF THE POPE TO OKVIETO. 187
all imaginable honour and service, and had sent ambassadors
on purpose to desire him to stay ; but he retired to Orvieto,
and from thence to Perusia, leaving the cardinals to receive
his majesty at Rome. The king was received very honour-
ably by them ; but he made no stay among them, nor suffered
the least injury to be done to anybody. From thence I was
sent for to attend him at Siena*, where I waited on his
majesty, who received me graciously. He asked me, in a
jesting way, whether the Venetians had sent any forces to
fall upon his rear ; for his men were all young, and he
thought no troops were able to engage with them. I hum-
bly replied that upon my leaving Venice the Signory in-
formed me, in the presence of one of their secretaries called
Loredano, that they and the Duke of Milan would bring
forty thousand men into the field, not to molest him, but to
defend themselves ; and on the day I set out from Venice
they ordered one of their proveditors who was employed
against us to inform me, at Padua, that their army should
not pass a river near Parma (which, if I mistake not, is
called the Oglio), unless his majesty invaded the Duke of
Milan ; and the said proveditor and I took private tokens
and directions how we might correspond with each other, if
there should be any occasion, to make a treaty of peace ; for
I was unwilling to refuse any overture of that nature,
because I knew not how my master's affairs might succeed.
There was present at our conference one Monsieur Lewis
Marcel, who (as a kind of treasurer) had that year the com-
mand of the Mots Vieref, and had been sent by them to
escort me. There were besides in the company some of
the Marquis of Mantua's servants, who were carrying him
money ; but they were at a distance, and heard nothing of
our discourse. From these or others I procured for the
king a list of the confederate army, their horse, foot, and
Stradiots, and the chief officers that commanded them all;
but few about the king believed what I told him.
After the king had halted two days at Siena to refresh his
* The king reached Sienna on Saturday, the 13th of June, 1495.
f It is so in all the French copies; but certainly it should be Mcnt
Vied, in Italian Monte Vecchio, which is a certain treasure set apart by
the Venetians for the payment of interest due to the ancient creditors it
their republic, as appears by the book of Douato Gianotti.
183 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP PE COMMINES. [1195.
troops, I earnestly pressed his majesty to march onward, for
the enemy were not yet together, and I feared nothing till
the Germans came up ; for the King of the Romans was
busily raising both men and money. But, notwithstanding
all I siid to the contrary, the king would have two things
first solemnly debated in council, which took up but a little
time: one was, whether he should restore all the Floren-
tine towns, and receive thirty thousand ducats (which was
an arrear of a former gift), and seventy thousand more which
they offered to lend him, besides a reinforcement of thr. e
hundred men-at-arms (under the command of Francisco
Secco, an experienced and brave commander, and one in
whom the king put great confidence), and two thousand foot,
to secure his passage into his own kingdom. It was my
opinion (and several others agreed with me) that the king
should restore all but Leghorn, which he should keep till he
had reached Asti. If he had followed our advice, he would
have been able to have paid his army, and have had enough
to have bribed the enemy, and then he might have fought
them as he pleased ; but we could not get a hearing ; Mon-
sieur de Ligny prevented it (who was a young gentleman,
and cousin-german to the king) ; but he scarce knew why he
did so, unless it were in compassion to the Pisans. The other
point to be debated was set on foot by Monsieur de Ligny
himself, and proposed in council by one Gaucher de Tinte-
ville *, and by a party in Siena who wished to have Mon-
sieur de Ligny for their governor ; for that town is always
divided into factions, and is governed the worst of any in
Italy. My judgment was demanded first, and I answered
that I thought it would be better for the king to march for-
ward than to amuse himself with things of so litle import-
ance, which could not be of any service to him for a week ;
besides, that town belonged to the emperor, and to dispose
of it in that manner was to set the whole empire against us.
Everybody agreed with my opinion, and yet it was carried
against us ; and Monsieur de Ligny was made the governor
of Siena, with large promise of a revenue, but he never
received any. This trifling debate detained us six or seven
days, during which time the king diverted himself among
* Gaucher dc Dinteville, Lord of CLcnets, and Bailiff of Troyes.
I 493. J FR1AK JEROME OK FI,OKENCE. 189
the ladies ; and he left in this town above three hundred of
his choicest troops, to the great weakening of his army. He
then advanced towards Pisa*, by the way of Poggibonzi, a
castle belonging to the Florentines ; but those who were left
at Siena were driven out in a month.
Ch. III. —Of the memorable Preachings of Friar Jerome of Florence.—
1495.
I had almost forgotten to mention that while I was at Flo-
rence, on my way to join the. king, I went to pay a visit to a
certain friar called Friar Jerome |, who, by report, was a
very holy man, and had lived in a reformed convent fifteen
years. There went along with me. one John Francis J, a
very prudent person, and steward of the king's household.
The occasion of my going to visit him was upon the account
that he had always, both in the pulpit and elsewhere, spoken
much in the king's favour, and his words had kept the Flo-
* He entered Pisa on Saturday, June 20. 1495.
f Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican monk of Ferrara, arrived on
foot at Florence in the year 1489, and lodged in the convent of St.
Mark. He began immediately to preach there, from profound convic-
tion on his own part, and with a talent equal to his energy, against the
scandalous abuses which had been introduced into the Church of liome,
and against the criminal usurpations in the State, which had deprived
the citizens of their just rights. On the expulsion of Piero de' Medici,
in 1494, he became the leader of the democratic party, which was for a
time successful. Savonarola's influence was now very great; for he
was looked upon by his party as a kind of prophet and supreme
judge. But the opposition were not idle ; they represented him to
the people as an impostor, and accused him of heresy at Rome. Pope
Alexander VI. summoned him to appear before him, and, in default,
excommunicated him. After a long contest, in the course of which
Savonarola completely lost his credit with the populace, a party of
his enemies entered the convent of St. Mark by force, and dragged him
to prison. He was tried before a mixed lay and ecclesiastical commis-
si >n appointed by Alexander VI., and condemned to death. On the
23rd of May, 1498, he was burnt alive in the public square of Florence.
\ Jean Francois de Cardonne, councillor and Chief Steward to King
Charles VILL
190 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
rentines from confederating against us; for never any preacher
had so much authority in a city. Whatever had been said
or written to the contrary, he always affirmed that our king
would come into Italy, saying that he was sent by God to
chastise the tyranny of the princes, and that none would be
able to oppose him. He foret.uld likewise that he would come
to Pisa and enter it, and that the State of Florence should be
dissolved on that day. And so it fell out ; for Peter de Medicis
was driven out that very day. Many other things he pre-
saged long before they came to pass : as, for instance, the
death of Laurence de Medicis ; and he openly declared that
he knew it by revelation ; as likewise he predicted that the
reformation of the Church should be owing to the sword.
This is not yet accomplished ; but it very nearly occurred, and
he still maintains that it shall come to pass.
Many persons blamed him for pretending to receive
divine revelations, but others believed him ; for my part I
think him a good man. I asked him whether our king
would return safe into France, considering the great pre-
parations of the Venetians against him, of which he gave a
better account than I could, though I had lately come from
Venice. He told me he would meet with some difficulties
by the way, but he would overcome them all with honour,
though he had but a hundred men in his company ; for God,
who had conducted him thither, would guard him back again.
But because he had not applied himself as he ought to the
reformation of the Church, and because he had permitted his
soldiers to rob and plunder the poor people (as well those
who had freely opened their gates to him as the enemy who
had opposed him), therefore God had pronounced judgment
against him, and in a short time he would receive chastise-
ment. However, he bade me tell him that if he would have
compassion upon the people, and command his army to do
them no wrong, and punish them when they did, as it was
his office to do, God would then mitigate, if not revoke, his
sentence ; but that it would not be sufficient for him to
plead that he did them no wrong himself, and that he would
meet the king when he came, and tell him so from his own
mouth ; and so he did, and pressed hard for the restitution
of the Florentine towns. When he mentioned the sentence
1495.] THE KING RETAINS PISA AND OTHER TOWNS. 191
of God against him, the death of the dauphin * came very
fresh into my mind; for I knew nothing else that could
touch the king so sensibly. This 1 have thought fit to record,
to make it the more manifest that this whole expedition was
a mystery conducted by God Himself.
Ch. IV. — How the King retained Pisa and several other Florentine
Towns in his Hands, while the Duke of Orleans on the other Side en-
tered Novara, in the Duchy of Milan. — 1495.
"While the king (as I said before) was at Pisa, the people of
that town, both men and women, begged of us that for God's
sake we would intercede for them to the king, that they
might not again be subjected to the tyranny of the Floren-
tines, who, indeed, treated them very barbarously ; but they
fared as well as their neighbours, who are subject to other
States in Italy. Pisa and Florence had been at war for three
hundred years before the Florentines subdued them. These
supplications, being delivered with tears in their eves,
wrought strangely upon our soldiers ; so that, forgetting what
our king had promised and sworn before the altar of St.
John in Florence, they all unanimously (including even the
very archers and Swiss) interposed in their behalf, and
threatened all such as wished that the king should keep his
oath, and particularly the Cardinal of St. Malo f, who, in
other places, I have called the General of Languedoc ; and
him I heard an archer threaten myself, and others talked as
boldly to the Marshal de Gie. The President Gannay, for
three nights together, durst not lie in his own quarters ; and
the great promoter of all this was the Count de Ligny. The
Pisans daily made their sad complaints to the king, and
moved us all to compassion, though we had no reason to re-
lieve them.
• Charles Orlando, born on the 10th of October, 1402, and lied on
the 6th of December, 1495.
| Elsewhere called the General Brissonct.
192 THE MKMOIRS OK PHILIP DE COMMIXES [1495
One day after dinner, as the king was playing at tables
with the Lord de Piennes, and only two or three of the gen-
tlemen of the bed-chamber waiting on him, forty or fifty
armed gentlemen of his household entered the room, and, in
the name of the rest, the son of Salh-zard the elder * made a
speech to the king in favour of the Pisans, and charged some
of the persons above named of nothing less than betraying
him ; but the king reprimanded them severely, and there
never was any such thing afterwards.
Six or seven days the king spent to no purpose at Pisa ;
and, having altered the garrison, he put into the castle one
Entragues f, a servant to the Duke of Orleans, but an ill*
conditioned man. Monsieur de Ligny had recommended him
to the king, and by his interest a detachment of infantry from
Berry was left with him. This Entragues managed his
affairs so well (I suppose by means of his money), that he
got Pietrasanta into his hands, and another town not far off,
called Mortano ; besides which, he had another government
at Librefacto, near Lucca. The castle of the town of Sarzana,
which was extremely well fortified by the interest of Monsieur
de Ligny, was put in the hands of the bastard of Roussi J, who
was the Count's servant. Another castle, called Sarzanello,
he put into the hands of one of his other servants ; and the
king left great bodies of his forces in these places (though
he will never have so much need of them again), and re-
jected the assistance and offers of the Florentines, who, upon
his refusal, grew desperate. And yet, before he left Siena,
lie had intelligence that the Duke of Orleans had taken the
city of Novara § from the Duke of Milan ; and it was there-
fore certain that the Venetians would declare war against
him ; for they had sent him word that if he invaded the
Duke of Milan, they should be obliged, by the alliance they
had lately made, to assist him ; and their army, which wa8
numerous, was quite ready to take the field.
Now you must understand, that just upon the conclusion
• Louis de Salazar, Lord of Asnoi.
f Robert de Balsac, Lord of Entragues.
j Antoine de Luxembourg, Bastard of Brienne, son of Antoine de
Luxembourg, Count of Roussy, and nephew of the Count de Ligny.
§ Novara opened its gates to the Luke of Orleans on the 1 ub. of
June, 1 195.
l-*9o.] THE DUKE OF ORLEANS ENTERS NOVARA. 193
of the league, the Duke of Milan had a design upon Asti,
supposing he should have found no troops in it. But my
letters prevented him, and hastened the supplies which the
Duke of Bourbon sent thither; and first there arrived forty
lances of the Marshal de Gie's troops, who had been left
behind in France, all very well appointed ; and after them
five hundred foot from the Marquis di Saluzzo. The arrival
of these forces diverted the Duke of Milan's army, com-
manded by Galeas di St. Severino, who was posted at
Annone, a castle belonging to the said duke, within two miles
of Asti. Some time after they were joined by three hundred
and fifty men-at-arms, and gentlemen of Dauphiny, and all
the Frank-Archers of that country, and about two thousand
Swiss ; so that they were in all fully seven thousand five
hundred fighting men. It was a prodigious expense and
trouble to assemble these forces, and when that was done,
they did not answer the end for which they were designed -•
for they were sent for to have assisted the king, and instead
of that he was forced to support them. The king had writ-
ten to the Duke of Orleans and his chief officers that they
should attempt nothing against the Duke of Milan, but only
have a care to secure Asti, and come to meet his majesty as
far as the river Tesino, where they were to assist and favour
his passage, there being no other river where he could be
stopped ; for the Duke of Orleans had been left at Asti, and
had gone no further with the king. However, notwith-
standing the king's orders to the contrary, he was so pleased
with the honour of having Novara delivered into his hands
(which was but ten leagues from Milan) that he could not
contain himself, but entered it in a triumphal manner ; and
the whole city, both Guelphs and Gibellines, received him
with all imaginable demonstrations of joy; and the Mar-
chioness of Montferrat was a great instrument in carrying
out the plot. The castle held out two or three days ; but if
in the meanwhile he had gone or sent to Milan, where his
party was strong, he would have been received with more
joy (as I have been told by many great persons of that
duchy) than ever greeted him at his own castle at Blois ; and
during the first three days he might have done it with ease,,
for the Duke of Milan's forces were at Annone, near Asti,
VOL. II. O
194 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP T>E COMMINES. "1 496.
when Novara was surprised, and came not up till four days
after ; but perhaps he durst not rely upon the information
he received.
Ch. V. — How King Charles crossed several dangerous Passages over the
Mountains between Pisa and Sarzana; and how the Germans burned
Pontremoli. — 1495.
From Siena the king was come to Pisa, as you have already
heard, and from Pisa he marched to Lucca, where he was
well received by the townsfolk, and stayed with them two
days ; and from thence he went to Pietrasanta, where Mon-
sieur Entragues was governor ; and neither he himself, nor
any that were about him, had the least fear or apprehension
of the enemy. Yet he found great difficulty in his march
over the mountains betwixt Lucca and that place, where
there were several passes very easy to have been defended
by small bodies of foot ; but the confederates were not assem-
bled as yet. Not far from Pietrasanta, on one side there is
the pass of Seierre, or Salto della Cerva, and on the other
that of Roctaille, or Rotaio, with a deep marsh at the foot
of it, over which we were forced to march upon a causeway,
as if it had been through a standing pool. This was the
pass of which I had heard so much, and which I dreaded more
than all the rest between Pisa and Pontremoli ; for a small
body of troops, with a cart overturned in the midst of it, and
two pieces of cannon, would have stopped our passage, and
left our army helpless. From Pietrasanta the king marched
to Sarzana, where the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula met
him, and offered (if he pleased to send some of his forces
tliither) to make Genoa revolt to him. This proposal was
referred to a council of officers, of whom I was one, and it
was concluded by all that it should not be attempted ; for if
the king got the victory, Genoa would surrender of course ;
and if he lost the battle, it would do him no good ; and this
was the first time we ever heard fighting mentioned. Our
resolution was reported to the king ; but for all that, he sent
1495.] UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT ON GENOA. 195
thither the Lord de Bresse (since Duke of Savoy), the Lord
de Beaumont de Polignac*, ray brother-in-law, and the Lord
d'Aubijouxf, of the house of Araboise, with six-score men
at-arms, and five hundred archers, newly sent him by sea
out of France. I wondered that a prince of his age should
not have one minister of state about him that durst be plain
with him, and tell him the dangers to which he exposed hia
person ; but indeed he put no confidence in what I said.
We had a few forces at sea, which came from Naples,
under the command of Monsieur de Miolans, Governor of
Dauphiny, and one Stephen de Neves, of Montpelier ; they
were in all about eight galleys, and were arrived at Spezzia and
Rapalo, where they were defeated at the time I speak of, and in
the same place where our men had beaten King Alphonso's
forces in the beginning of this expedition, and by the same
party who had been on our side at that battle (that is to say,
Signor John Lewis di Fieschi, and Signor John Adorno); and
everything was changed in Genoa. It had been better manage-
ment to have had them on the king's side, though that would
have been little enough. Monsieur de Bresse and the Cardinal
advanced into the suburbs of Genoa, expecting their party
in the town would rise in their favour; but the Duke of Milan
had taken care to prevent any insurrection ; and the Adorni
and Signor John Lewis di Fieschi had given such orders
about the affair that our forces were in great danger of being
handled as they had been at sea, considering the smallness
of their numbers; nor did anything prevent it but the fear
the prevailing party in Genoa had, that if they sallied out of
the town, the Fregosi would rise up in arms and shut the
gates upon them ; however, our men met with difficulty
enough before they got to Asti ; and they were not at the
battle, where they might have been more serviceable and
better employed.
From Sarzana the king marched on towards Pontremoli,
which he was forced to pass, it being the entrance into the
• John de Polignac, Lord of Beaumont and Randan. He married
Jeanne de Chambes, eldest sister of Helene de Charabes, wife of Philip
de Commines.
f Hugh d'Amboise, Baron of Aubijoux, brother to the famous Car-
dinal George d'Amboise. He was killed iu the battle of JUuriguan, ia
1515.
196 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
niountaics. The town and castle were strong, and the country
about them almost inaccessible; and had they been wel.
garrisoned, they could never have been taken ; but it seemed
as if what Friar Jerome told me proved true, that God would
lead him, as it were, by the hand, till he was out of all danger ;
for the enemy were blind and stupid, and had not put above
three or four hundred men to defend that important pass.
The king sent his vanguard to Pontremoli, under the com-
mand of the Marshal de Gie and Signor John James di Tri-
vulce, whom he had entertained in his service ever since
King Ferrand's flight out of Naples. This Trivulce was a
gentleman of Milan, of a noble family, a good officer, a
worthy man, and a great enemy to the Duke of Milan, for
he had been banished by him ; and by his means the place
was presently delivered without an assault, and the garrison
marched out. But a great inconvenience ensued upon this ;
for, as I have already mentioned, when the Duke of Milan
was there last, there happened a dispute between the towns-
men and some of the Germans (forty of whom were slain by
the townsmen), so that the Swiss, in revenge, and contrary
to their articles, now put all the men to the sword, plundered
the town, set fire to it, and burned it and all the magazines,
with about ten of their own men, who, being drunk, could
not escape, and it wras not in the Marshal de Gie's power to
prevent it. After they had committed this outrage, they
besieged the castle, in order to have used those who were in
it after the same manner, though the garrison consisted of
none but Signor John James di Trivulce's troops, who had
been put into it when the enemy marched out ; neither would
they give over their attack till the king himself sent to com-
mand them to desist. The destruction of this place was a
great inconvenience to the king, as much for the dishonour
it brought on us as for the provisions that were spoiled, of
which there was great plenty, and we were in extremity of
want, though the people were not much against us, excepting
only those about the town, who had suffered more particu-
larly. But if the king had hearkened to the overtures made
him by Signor John James di Trivulce, several places and
persons of importance would have surrendered and allied
themselves to him; for he advised him to set up the young
4uke's standard, who was son of John Galeas, the last
149-5.] THE DUKE OF ORLEANS AT NOVARA. 19?
Duke of Milan, that lies buried at Pavia, as you have heard ;
which young duke was in the Lord Ludovic's power.
But the king would not be persuaded to do it, out of kind-
ness to the Duke of Orleans, who laid claim to the duchy.
After this the king marched from Pontremoli, and encamped
iii a small valley, where there were not ten houses, and the
name of which I have forgotten. He lay in that camp five
days (I know not why), with his army in great distress for
provisions, and the main body thirty miles behind the van-
guard, with high and steep rocks all around, where such great,
cannon had never been seen till then ; for those with which
Duke Galeas had passed that way were but four falconets,
which perhaps weighed five hundred pounds a-piece, and yet
the people regarded them with infinite wonder.
Ch. VL — How the Duke of Orleans behaved himself in the City of
Novara. — 1495.
But to return now to the Duke of Orleans. As soon as he
had taken the Castle of Novara, he lay still for some days,
and then marched to Vigevano. Two little towns * hard
by sent to him and offered to receive his troops ; but he
wisely refused the overtures they made him. The citizens
of Pavia sent twice to him likewise, and certainly he was
mightily to blame in refusing their offer. However, he
drew up in battle array before the town of Vigevano, where
the Duke of Milan's whole army was encamped, and com-
manded by the sons of Galeas St. Severino, whom I have so
often mentioned before. The town is worth nothing, not a
jot better than St. Martin de Cande. f I came thither not
long after the Duke of Milan had been there, and the chief
officers who were there showed me the places where their
armies had been drawn up, both within and without the
town ; and if the Duke of Orleans had advanced but a
• Mortara and Correano. — Guazzo, 160.
•f Candcs, a small town in the Department of Indre-et-Loire.
C 8
198 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMUTES. [1495.
hundred paces farther, the enemy must have retreated over
the river Tesino, where they had made a large bridge of boats,
and were drawn up on the bank ; and I saw them demolish
an earthwork which they had made on the other side to se-
cure their retreat ; for they had resolved to quit both the
town and the castle, which would have been a great disad-
vantage to them. This is the place where the Duke of
Milan generally resides, and indeed it is the best seat for
hunting and hawking, and all kinds of sports, that I ever
yet saw.
But perhaps the Duke of Orleans thought the town
stronger than it really was, and that he had done enough
already, without attempting anything farther; and therefore
he marched off to a place called Trecate, the lord of which
place had a conference with me not long after, and had some-
thing in charge from the Duke of Milan. To this town of
Trecate the chief citizens of Milan sent to invite the Duke
thither, and tempt him into their town, offering their
children as hostages ; and they could easily have put him
into possession of it, as I have been credibly informed since
by persons of great authority who were there at that time ;
for the Duke of Milan would not have found men enough to
have defended the castle, and the nobility and commons both
desired the destruction of the house of Sforza. The Duke
of Orleans also, and his men, have told me the same, but
they durst not trust the citizens ; and they wanted a person
that understood them and their ways better than they did ;
besides, his great officers were not all of the same opinion
in relation to that affair.
A body of two thousand Germans sent by the King of the
Romans, and about a thousand German horse under the com-,
mand of Monsieur Frederic Capelare, a native of the county
of Ferrette, now joined the Duke of Milan's army. With
this reinforcement Galeas and the rest of the officers were so
mightily encouraged that they marched directly to Trecate,
and offered the Duke of Orleans battle ; but he was advised
not to fight, though his army was more numerous than
theirs. Perhaps his officers were unwilling to hazard their
army, lest the loss of a battle should be the ruin of the
kin£, of whom they could get no intelligence, because the
couriers were all stopped. Upon this the Duke of Orleans
1495.] THE KING PASSES THE APENNINES. 199
retreated with his whole army to Novara, having with great
indiscretion neglected the favourable opportunity of sup-
plying the town with provisions, or preserving as they ought
what was already in their magazines, though they might
have got enough at that time in the country round about
without money ; but when they wanted it afterwards, the
enemy was within half a league of the town.
Ch. VII. — How the King passed the Apennine Mountains with his
Train of Artillery, by the Assistance of the Swiss; and of the great
Danger to which the Marshal de Gie and his whole Vanguard were
exposed. — 1495.
We left the king encamped in a valley on this side Pon-
tremoli, in great want of provisions, and yet he stayed there
five days without any manner of necessity for doing so. Our
Swiss, who had committed the great fault at Pontremoli*,
did us a singular piece of service at this time ; they were
fearful their crime would give the king a displeasure against
them, and that his majesty would never endure them more ;
and therefore, to atone for what was past, they came to him
of themselves, and offered to convey his great guns over
those almost impassable mountains (and well I may call
them so, for their height and steepness), where there was no
track or path to direct them. I have seen most of the chief
mountains both in Italy and Spain, but none of them are to
be compared to these ; and this offer the Swiss made upon con-
dition the king would forgive them, which he did. Our
train consisted of fourteen extraordinary great guns. At
the farther end of the valley we began to climb up a very
steep path, where our mules could scarce get up ; but these
Swiss corded themselves two and two abreast, and drew a
hundred and sometimes two hundred in a company, till they
were weary, and then they were relieved by as many more ;
besides these, there were the horses belonging to the artil-
lery, and every one of the courtiers who had any carriage,
* Sec Chapter V., p. 196
O 4
200 THE MEMOIRS OF PniLIP DE COMMINES. [149&
lent a horse to hasten their passage ; but had it not been
for these Swiss, the horses would never have done it ; and
to speak truth, they helped over not only the artillery, but the
whole army ; for had it not been for them, not a man could
have passed the mountains ; wherefore they were well as-
sisted ; and besides, they had as great a desire to be over as
the rest of the army ; they had committed many faults, but
this good action did more than sufficiently atone for all.
However, the greatest part of the difficulty was not to get
the artillery up ; for as soon as our men were at the top, they
saw great deep valleys below them, to which there was no
way but what nature had prepared ; so that our horses and
men were forced to draw backward, and the letting the guns
down was infinitely more trouble than the hauling them
up ; and besides, the smiths and the carpenters were forced
to be constantly by ; for if any of the guns slipped, they had
to be mended before they could go on. Many advised the
king, for expedition's sake, to break up his great guns, but
he would by no means consent to it.
The Marshal de Gie was thirty miles before us, and
pressed the king to hasten his march ; and yet it was three
days before we could reach 1dm, and by that time the enemy
was come within sight. Their army was encamped in a
large field about half a league from him ; and if they had
attacked him, he would certainly have been defeated. The
marshal afterward took up his quarters at Fornovo, a strong
town at the entrance into the plain, and this he did to keep
the enemy from assaulting us on the mountains ; but we had
a better guardian than he to protect us, for God put other
thoughts into the heads of our enemies, and so blinded their
understandings with avarice that th«y were resolved to wait
for our coming into the plain, that nothing might escape
them; for they thought if they should attack us upon the
mountains we might retreat to Pisa, or some of the towns
we had in the territory of Florence ; but they were mis-
taken, for those places were too remote ; and if they had
beaten us, they might have pursued as fast as we could
have fled, and they would have had the advantage of know-
ing the country better than we.
Thus far on our side the war was not begun ; but the
Marshal de Gie sent the king word that he had passed the
1495.] SKIRMISHES WITH THE ESTRADIOTS. 201
mountains, and that having sent out a party of forty horse to
reconnoitre the enemy, they had been charged by the Estra-
diots, and one of them (called Lebeuf) being slain, the Estra-
diots cut otf his head, put it upon the top of a lance, carried it
to their proveditor, and demanded a ducat. These Estradiots
are of the same nature with the Genetaires * ; they are horse
and foot, and habited like Turks, only they wear no turbans
upon their heads. They are hardy people, and lie abroad
all the year round with their horses ; they were all Greeks,
from the places which the Venetians possess in those parts,
some of them from Naples andliomagna and the Morea, others
from Albania and Durazzo. Their horses are all Turkish,
and very good ; the Venetians employ them often in their
wars, and put great confidence in them. I saw them all upon
their first landing at Venice, and they mustered in the island
where the abbey of St. Nicholas is built, and their number
was near fifteen hundred; they are stout, active fellows, and
will plague an army terribly when they once undertake it.
These Estradiots, as I said before, having beaten our
party, pursued them to the marshal's quarters, where the
Swiss were posted, of whom they killed three or four, and
carried away their heads according to their custom. For
the Venetians, having been at war against the Turks for-
merly, in the time of Mahomet, the present Turk's father,
Sultan Mahomet would not suffer his soldiers to give quarter,
but allowed them a ducat for every head, and the Venetians
did the same. My opinion is they did it on purpose to
terrify us, and indeed so they did ; but the Estradiots them-
selves were no less affrighted with our artillery ; for a shot
from a falconet having killed one of their horses, they retired
with great precipitation ; but in their retreat they took one
of our Swiss captains, who had gotten on horseback to watch
their retreat, and, being unarmed, was run through the body
with a lance. This captain was a wise man, and they car-
ried him before the Marquis of Mantua (who was captain-
general for the Venetians) and his uncle, the Lord Rodolph
of Mantua, and the Count di Cajazzo, who commanded for
the Duke of Milan, and who knew him extremely well.
• Spanish light horse, so coiled from the jennets which they rode.—
6ee BttANiuHE, i. 213.
202 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE fiOTVfMlXES. [1495.
The enemy's army had taken the field (at least all of them
that were joined, for some were still to come up) about
eight days before, but lay still in expectation of their con-
federates ; so that the king might have gone back into
France without any impediment in the world, had he not
squandered away his time to no purpose by the way, as you
have heard ; but God had ordered it otherwise.
Ch. VIII. — How the Marshal de Gie withdrew with his Army to the
Mountains, and waited until the King came up to him. — 1495.
The Marshal de Gie, fearing to be attacked, retired to the
mountains. He had with him (as he told me) about eight
score men-at-arms, and eight hundred Swiss, and no more,
and from us he could not expect any assistance ; for, by
reason of our heavy cannon, we could not join him in less
than a day and a half. The king, in his march, lay at the
houses of two little marquises. Our vanguard, being posted
upon the mountain, was awaiting an attack by the enemy,
whom they saw drawn up in order of battle at a good dis-
tance in the plain ; but God (who had always preserved our
army) infatuated our adversaries' understanding. Our Swiss
captain, being examined by the Count di Cajazzo, who com-
manded their army, and was then in their van, was asked
what number of men-at-arms were with the marshal, though
the count knew our strength as well as we did ourselves, for
he had been with us during the whole campaign.
The Swiss magnified our forces, represented us to be
much stronger than we were, and said the marshal had with
him three hundred men-at-arms and fifteen hundred Swiss.
The count told him plainly that he lied, for in the whole
army we had not above three thousand Swiss, and it was
improbable we would send half of them in our van ; upon
which the captain was sent prisoner to the Marquis of
Mantua'9 tent, where a council of war was called, in order
to consult how to attack us. The marquis believed what
the Swiss captain had said, and urged that their infantry
1495.] PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 203
were not so good as the Swiss; that all their forces had not
joined them ; that it would be a great injury to the allies to
engage without them ; and that, if they should lose the battle,
the Signory would have just reason to blame their conduct;
that it would be better, therefore, to wait for our coming
into the plain, where we must pass in front of them ; and
the two proveditors being of the same opinion, the rest
durst not oppose. Others affirmed, that if they routed our
vanguard, the King must of necessity be taken prisoner;
but, for all that, it was concluded to await us in the plain,
and they confidently believed that none of us could escape.
This I have been informed of since by the very persons
whom I have mentioned; for, afterwards, we discoursed
together, and the Marshal de Gie and I had this relation
from their own mouths. Upon this they retired into the
plain, being assured that within a day or two the king must
of necessity come to Fornovo; and in the meantime tha
rest of the confederate forces arrived in their camp, and the
way was so narrow we were obliged to inarch close by
them.
Upon our descending from the mountains, we had a pro-
spect of the plain of Lombardy, which is the pleasantest and
Lest country in the world, and most plentiful in everything;
yet, though I call it a plain, it is scarce passable for horses,
tor it is as full of ditches as Flanders, or rather more, but
much better, and more fruitful both in corn, wine, and
fruit; and their ground never lies fallow. It pleased us
exceedingly to see so fine a country after the famine and
hardships which we had suffered since our departure from
Lucca ; but our train of artillery gave us great trouble, es-
pecially to let down, so steep and difficult was the pass. In
the enemy's camp there were great numbers of tents and
pavilions, which made it look very large, and indeed so it
was. The Venetians made good their message by me to the
king, when they promised that the Duke of Milan and they
would bring forty thousand men into the field ; and if they
had not their full number, they wanted not much of it, for
they were five and thirty thousand effective men, and of
them four-fifths were in the Venetian pay. They had at
least two thousand six hundred men-at-arms barded, every
one attended by his bowman on horseback, or some other
204 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495
person in livery, making four horses to every man-at-arms.
Their Estradiots and other light horse were about five
thousand, and the rest were infantry, encamped in a very
strong position, and furnished with a large train of artillery.
Ch. TX. — How the King and his small Army arrived at Fornovo, near
the Camp of his Enemies, who awaited him in very fine Order, and
with a Determination to defeat and capture him. — 1495.
The king descended from the mountains about noon, and
took up his quarters in Fornovo on the 5th of July, being
Sunday, in the year 1495. We found good store of pro-
vision in the town both for our horses and ourselves. The
people received us very kindly, for nobody did them the
least injury; they brought us victuals and bread, but their
bread was small and black, and they sold it very dear, and
their wine was three parts water ; they brought us likewise
some of their fruits, and were exceedingly diligent in at-
tending our army. I ordered them to bring me a little of
everything, which I had tested in my presence; for we had
great suspicion that this plenty of provisions had been left
there on purpose to poison us, so that at first nobody touched
them ; and our suspicion was much increased by the death of
two of our Swiss, who were found dead in a cellar, having
killed themselves with excessive drinking, or else died of
cold in the cellar ; but before night our horses began to eat,
and at last the soldiers followed their example, and we re-
freshed ourselves very well. I must say this in honour of
the Italians, that we never found that they endeavoured to
do us any mischief by poison ; if they had, we could hardly
have secured ourselves in this march. On the Sunday (as
I said before) we arrived about noon at Fornovo ; most of
our people of quality ate nothing but a crust of bread at the
place where the king alighted and drank ; and, indeed, at
that time there was little else to be got ; for the provision*
that were in the town nobody durst venture to taste.
1495. J THE KING AND niS ARMY AT TOKNOVO. 205
Presently after this refreshment, the Estradiols sallied
out of their camp, and dashing up to our very army, gave
us a strong alarm. Our men, being unacquainted with their
way of fighting, drew out into the field, and put themselves
into order of battle, with a van, main body, and rear so ex-
actly well distanced that they were not a bowl's cast one
from another, so that upon any disaster they might easily
have supported each other ; but no action happened at that
time, and both parties retired to their camps. Our tents
were but few, and our camp extended so near to theirs that
twenty of their Estradiots were enough to give us an alarm at
any time ; wherefore they lay constantly in our front, having
the benefit of a wood, through which they might march
close up to us before they were discovered. We lay betwixt
two little hills in a valley, divided by a small river called
Tarrcfc which is usually fordable on foot, unless it is swelled
by the waters from the mountains, which fall very suddenly,
and are as suddenly gone. The valley in which we lay
encamped, being full of gravel and great stones, was very
incommodious for our cavalry; it was about a quarter of a
league in width ; and upon the hill on our right hand, within
half a league of us, the enemy were posted, so that we were
obliged to pass in sight of their whole army, with only that
river between us. On that side on which we were quartered,
beyond the hill on the left hand, there was another road
which we might have taken ; but then we should have
seemed to have been afraid of them. About two days before,
it was proposed to me by some prudent persons in our army,
who now began to be apprehensive of their danger, that I
should go and desire a parley with the enemy, and should
take another along with me, to observe their numbers and
the situation of their camp. I had no great inclination to
undertake this duty (and without a safe-conduct there was
no going at all) ; wherefore I told them that, at my de-
parture from Venice, and at Padua, I had taken my leave
very kindly of the proveditors, and that we had promised cor-
respondence upon occasion, and therefore I did not question
but upon any overture of a treaty they would meet me half
way; whereas, if I should condescend to go to them, it
would but make them the more arrogant; besides, I feared
it was too late.
206 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMNES. [1495.
The same Sunday I wrote to the proveditors (one of them
was called Luca Pisani, and the other Melchior Trivisano),
desiring: that, according to the agreement between ourselves
at my departure from Padua, they would send me a passport,
in order that I might have a conference with them. They
sent me word they would have done it with all their hearts,
had we not begun a war against the Duke of Milan ; how-
ever, one of them (as they should agree) would meet me in
some place midway between the two armies. I had their
answer the same night, but none of those who had influence
with the king attached any importance to it. I was fearful
of going too far, lest they should have interpreted it as
cowardice ; so that I pressed it no farther that night, though
I would willingly have done anything to have delivered the
king and his army out of danger, had I been able.
About midnight the Cardinal of St. Malo left the king ;
and his tent being near mine, he came to me, and told me
that the king would march the next morning, and that he
was resolved to pass by them, and when he began to march,
that he would fire some of his great guns into their army by
way of defiance, and then march on in as good order as he
could. I am of opinion this was the Cardinal's own advice,
for he was ignorant in such cases, and knew not what
counsel to give; and it had been much more prudent in the
king to have called a council of his officers and all the
grave men about him, to have consulted what measures it
would be proper to take in that exigence of affairs ; but the
result would have been the same, for in this very march I
had seen many things concerted in council with very great
prudence, but mannged quite contrary when they came to
be executed. I told the Cardinal that if we came so near as
to fire into their camp, they would certainly come out and
skirmish with us, and that then it would be impossible to avoid
a general battle ; besides, it did not consist with the overture
I had made, so that I was extremely concerned to hear the
resolution the king had taken. However, such had been
my condition from the beginning of this king's reign, that I
durst not object, for fear I should disoblige his favourites,
and make them my enemies ; for they had, indeed, greater
authority with him than they ought to have had.
That night we had two great alarms, and all through our
1495.] ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE EATTT.E OF FORNOVO. 207
own negligence, in not having taken the same precautions
to secure ourselves against the incursions of the Estradiots,
as we used to do against the light horse ; for twenty of our
men-at-arms, with their archers, would easily have stopped
two hundred of them ; but they were new to us then. We
had great rains that night also, and such claps of thundef
and lightning, as if heaven and earth were coming together,
or that this was an omen of some impending mischief. But
we were at the foot of great mountains, in a hot country,
and in the height of the summer, so that the thing was
natural enough ; however, it was very terrible, and our con-
sternation was increased by our enemies being so numerous
before us, and our having no possibility to pass without
fighting them, which must be done to our great disadvan-
tage ; for our army was but small, not amounting to above
nine thousand men in the whole ; and of these, I believe,
two thousand were servants, and such as followed the camp,
without reckoning pages and footmen belonging to the
officers.
Ch. X. — The Arrangement of the two Armies for the Battle of For-
novo. — 1495.
On Monday morning, the 6th of July, in the year 1495, by
seven o'clock, the noble king mounted on horseback, and
called for me several times : I came to him, and found him
completely armed, and mounted upon the best horse I ever
saw in my life. The horse was called Savoy, of the Bressian
breed, and had been given him, according to common report,
by Charles, Duke of Savoy. It was a black horse, with but
one eye, of no extraordinary stature, but tall enough for him
that was to ride him. This young prince seemed that day
quite another person than what one would take him to have
been by his nature, proportion, and complexion. He was
exceeding bashful, especially in speaking, and is so to this
day ; and no wonder, for he had been brought up in great
Swe, and in » he company of inferior people ; but now, being
208 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINE3. [1495.
mounted on his horse, his eyes sparkled with fire, his com-
plexion was fresh and lively, and all his words showed
wisdom and discretion, — so that I could not hut believe the
predictions of Friar Jerome (and I thought of them at that
time) when he told me that God would conduct him, as it
were, by the hand, and that he should meet with some diffi-
culties in his return to his own dominions, but that he should
overcome them all, and gain immortal honour by it. The
king told me that if those people wished to treat, I might
go treat with them ; and the Cardinal being by, he nominated
him to go along with me, and also the Marshal de Gie, who
at that time was in a violent passion, occasioned by a dispute
between the Counts of Narbonne and Guise, both of whom
pretended to the command of the van that day. I replied,
" Sire, I shall observe your commands ; but I never saw two
great armies so near without fighting before they parted."
Our whole army marched out of their camp in good order,
the battalions being near one another, as on the day before ;
but yet methought they did not make so fine an appearance
as those I had formerly seen under Charles, Duke of Bur-
gundy, and our king's father Louis XL, nor indeed were
they half so numerous. The Cardinal and I withdrew a
little, and dictated a letter to the two proveditors, which was
written by one Monsieur Robertet *, one of the king's secre-
taries, in whom he had great confidence. The substance of
the letter was, that it was the Cardinal's duty, by virtue of
his quality and function, to procure peace, if it lay in his
power, and mine also, as I had been ambassador lately at
Venice ; wherefore it would not be improper for me to be a
mediator now. We signified to them that the king's resolu-
tion was only to march through the country in his way to
France, without committing any hostilities ; and therefore,
if they desired a conference, as was proposed the day before,
we were ready to meet them, and would employ all our in-
terest to accommodate matters. By this time the fight was
begun, and there was skirmishing on all sides. As we were
marching on slowly, with the river between us, we came
within a quarter of a league one of the other, they being also
* Florimont "Robertet, a native of Montbrison, was Secretary of State
ttnder Kings Charles VIII., Louis XII., aid Francis L
1495.] BATTLE OF FORNOVO. 209
drawn up in order of battle ; for it is their custom to make
their camp so large, that they can put themselves into bat-
tle array within it.
They sent out a party of their Estradiots and mounted
bowmen, and some few men-at-arms, who marched directly,
by private roads, to the village of Fornovo, which we had
just left, with a design to pass the little river Tarro in that
place, and fall upon our baggage-train, which was very nu-
merous (in all, I believe, besides waggons, about six thousand
sumpter-horses, muies, and asses). Their army was drawn
up in as good order as possible, and had been so for several
days before ; and they relied much upon the superiority of
their forces. They attacked the king's army on every side ;
so that, if we had been beaten, not a man of us could have
escaped, considering the country we were in, and that those
whom I mentioned before had fallen upon our baggage. On
the left hand, there were the Marquis of Mantua and his
uncle, the Lord Rodolph, with the Count Bernardino di Mon-
tone *, and the flower of their army, consisting of six
hundred men-at-arms, as they told me afterwards ; and these
charged our rear. All the men-at-arms were well barded,
with fine plumes of feathers, and bourdonnasses f ; and with
their cross-bow men on horseback, their Estradiots, and their
infantry to support them. Against the Marshal de Gie and
our vanguard, the Count di Cajazzo advanced with about
four hundred men-at-arms well accoutred, and supported
also by a good body of foot. There was also another brigade
of about two hundred men-at-arms, commanded by the son J
of Signor John Bentivoglio, of Bologna, a young gentleman
who had never been in battle before ; and, to speak tlie truth,
they wanted good officers as much as we did. These were to
second the Count di Cajazzo, and fall upon our van ; and
there was also another squadron, in the nature of a reserve
to the Marquis of Mantua's brigade, which was commanded
by Anthony d'Urbino, a bastard of the late Duke of Urbino;
• Bernardino de Montone, a Venetian condottiere, and grandson of
the celebrated Braccio de Montone.
f Bourdonnasses were hollow Iannis, curiously painted, and nsed in
Italy by the men-at-arms, in tournaments.
% Annibale de Bentivoglio, who had been created Gonfalonier of
Justice on the 1st of November, 1489.
vol. n. p
210 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
and, besides all these, there were two great bodies left in their
camp. This I understood afterwards from themselves, and
the next day I saw it with my own eyes ; for the Venetians
would not venture all at one stake, nor leave their baggage
unguarded; yet, in my judgment, they had done better to
have put all to a push, since they were so far engaged.
I shall now acquaint you with what became of the letter
which the Cardinal and I had sent by a trumpeter. It was
received by the proveditors, and as soon as they had read it,
our great guns began to fire, and they immediately answered
us ; but their artillery was not so good as ours.* The pro-
veditors sent the trumpeter back, and the marquis sent
another of his own with this message, that they would wil-
lingly treat, and if we would give over cannonading, they
would do so too. I was then at a distance from the king,
who was riding up and down from rank to rank : so 1 sent
back the trumpeters to say, that our cannon should cease
firing; and having given orders to that purpose to the mas-
ter of the artillery, both sides ceased for a time ; but on a
sudden they fired a gun amongst us, and ours began to play
more fiercely than before, with three fresh pieces which
we had levelled against them. As soon as our two trum-
peters were arrived in their camp, they were carried to the
marquis's tent, where it was solemnly debated whether they
should treat or engage. The Count di Cajazzo (as they
told me, who were present) urged that we were half van-
quished already, and that this was no time for a treaty ;
and one of the proveditors (who told me the story) was ot
* " The French," says Mr. Prescott, " in artillery, were at this time
in advance of the Italians, perhaps of every nation in Europe. The
Italians, indeed, were so exceedingly defective in this department that
their best field-pieces consisted of small copper tubes covered with wood
and hides. They were mounted on unwieldy carriages drawn by oxen,
and followed by waggons loaded with stone balls. These guns were
worked so awkwardly, that the besieged, says Guicciardini, had time
between the discharges to repair the mischief inflicted by them '
The French, on the other hand, were provided with a beautiful train of
ordnance, consisting of bronze cannon about eight feet in length, and
many smaller pieces. They were lightly mounted, drawn by horses, and
easily kept pace with the rapid movements of the army. They dis-
charged iron balls, and were served with admirable skill, intimidating
their enemies by the rapidity and accuracy of their fire, and easily de-
molishing their fortifications, which were constructed with little strength
or scieo.ee." — History of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. ii, p. 259.
1495.] THE SWISS MERCENARIES. 211
his judgment, but the other was not. The marquis was of
that mind too, but his uncle was against it; and being an
honest and discreet man, strenuously opposed it, for he loved
us well, and served against us unwillingly. At length tuey
were unanimous in their opinion for fighting.
Ch. XL — How Parleys were Tainly attempted; and the Beginning of
the Battle of Fornovo. — 1495.
You must know that the king had placed his greatest
strength in his van ; for in it there were about three hun-
dred and fifty men-at-arms, three thousand Swiss (the
hopes of the whole army*), three hundred archers, and
6ome of the two hundred mounted cross-bow men of his own
guard (which was a great loss to him, as he ordered them
to fight on foot). Besides these we had very few foot; but
what we had were distributed among them. There fought
on foot among the Swiss the Lord Englebert of Clevest,
brother to the Duke of Cleves, the Lord of Lornay J, and the
bailiff of Dijon, who commanded them ; and the artillery
was placed in their front. The forces that had been left in
* The Swiss mercenaries were the finest infantry of that age, and, by
their defeat of the Burgundian chivalry at Granson and Morat, had fully
demonstrated the superiority of infantry in battle. Their organisation
is thus described by Mr. Prescott : '" The Swiss were formed into
battalions, varying from 3000 to 8000 men each. They wore little
defensive armour, and their principal weapon was the pike, eighteen
feet long. Formed into these solid battalions, which, bristling with
spears all around, received the technical appellation of the hedgehog,
they presented an invulnerable front on every quarter. In the level
field, with free scope allowed for action, they bore down all opposition,
and received unshaken the most desperate charges of the steel-clad
cavalry on their terrible array of pikes. They were too unwieldy, how-
ever, for rapid or complicated manoeuvres; and they were easily discon-
certed by any unforeseen impediment or irregularity of the ground." —
History of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. ii. p. 258.
f Engilbert de Cleves, Count of Auxerre, and afterwards Count of
Nevers and Eu, became a naturalised Frenchman in 1486, married
Charlotte de Bourbon, and died on the 21st of November, 1506.
% Louis de Menton, Lord of Lornay, captain of the kind's huudred
6wiss guards, and Master of the Hoise to the Queen.
P I
212 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [149*;
the territories of Florence, and those which had been sent tc
Genoa against the judgment of all people, would have been
of very great service to us on this occasion. Our vanguard
had by this time marched on as far as the enemy's camp,
and everybody expected they would have attacked us ; but
our two other bodies were neither so near each other, nor so
well ordered as on the day before ; and because the Mar-
quis of Mantua (who had already passed the river, and en-
tered the plain) was within a quarter of a league of our rear
ready to attack them, but marching slowly on, and in such
close order, that it was a very fine sight to behold, the king
was forced to turn his back upon his own vanguard, and
face about to his enemies at the rear. I was at that time
with the Cardinal, awaiting an answer ; but I told him it
was no time to trifle any longer, and so I passed by the
Swiss squadron and went to find out the king. In my
passage I lost a page (who was my cousin-german), a valet-
de-chambre, and a foot-boy, who followed me at a little dis-
tance ; and I did not see when they were slain.
I had not come a hundred paces, when I heard a great
noise in the place from whence I came, or a little behind it :
it was the Estradiots, who were gotten into the king's quar-
ters, where there were not above three or four houses ; and
they rifled his baggage, and killed or wounded four or five
men, but the rest escaped. They killed altogether about a
hundred footboys and servants belonging to our carriages, and
put our whole train in very great disorder. When I came
where the king was, I found him making knights. The enemy
being come very near him, he was obliged to give over ;
and I heard Matthew the bastard of Bourbon* (who was in
great favour with the king), and one Philip du Moulin f (a
very brave gentleman), call to the king, and say, " On, sir,
on ; " upon which he went to the head of the army, and placed
himself directly before his standard, so that there was not a
man that I saw nearer the enemy, unless it were the bastard
of Bourbon. I had not been with the king a quarter of an
* Matthew, surnamed the Great Bastard of Bourbon, was a natural
son of John II.. Duke of Bourbon. On his return from Italy he was
treated Admiral and Governor of Guienne and Picardy; and he died
hi 1505.
f Philippe du Moulin, Knight, is mentioned as one of the member*
pf the king's council.
1495.] BATTLE OF FORNOVO. 213
hour before the enemy were advanced within a hundred
paces of his majesty, who was as ill guarded and attended as
any prince or noble that I ever saw ; but he is well guarded
who is guarded by God : and it was true what the venera-
ble Friar Jerome had presaged, who said, " That God would
lead him as it were by the hand." His rear was posted on the
right, a little behind him. The next battalion to him on that
side was the Duke of Orleans' troop, consisting of about eighty
lances, commanded by Robinet de Framezelles *, about
forty more under the Sieur de la Trimouille, and the hundred
Scottish archers, who put themselves into as close order as
if they had been men-at-arms. I was on the left among the
gentlemen of the Vingt-Escusf, the pensioners, and others
of the king's household : I will not mention their several
captains for brevity's sake ; but the rear was commanded
by the Count of Foix.
About a quarter of an hour after my arrival, the enemy,
being advanced so near the king (as you have heard), began
to couch their lances, advanced upon a gentle gallop, and
in two bodies charged our two squadrons on the right
of them, and the Scottish archers ; our men advanced to-
wards them, and the king as bravely as any. On the left,
where I was posted, we charged them on the flank much to
our advantage ; and, indeed, to say truth, never charge was
brisker on both sides. The Estradiots, who were in the rear
of that division, seeing our mules and sumpter-horses making
with all speed to our vanguard, and that their comrades
were beginning to plunder, quilted their men-at-arms, and
ran to get their share of the booty ; but certainly, if fifteen
hundred light horse had but attacked us with their scimitars
in their hands (which is a terrible weapon), considering the
smallness of our number, we must certainly have been
beaten ; but God assisted us, for no sooner had they charged
us with their lances but their Italian men-at-arms fled, and
all their infantry, or the greatest part of them, gave ground
also. At the same time that this squadron charged us the
Count di Cajazzo attacked our van ; but they came not sc
* Robinet de Framezelles was lieutenant to the Duke of Orleans at
the capture of No vara in 1495.
f Part of the king's guard, who received tocenty crowns a month)
whence the name.
p S
214 THE MEMOIKS OF PHILIP DE COJTMINES. [1495.
close, for when they should have couched their lances their
hearts failed, and they fell into disorder ; and the Swiss
took fifteen or twenty of them in a company, and put them
to the sword: the rest fled, and were but indifferently pur-
sued ; for the Marshal de Gie with much ado kept his
forces together, for he perceived another great body of them
not very far off. However, some followed the chase, and
the enemy fled over the ground where we had charged along
the highway, with their swords only in their hands ; for
they had thrown away their lances.
But you must know that that brigade which charged the
king was warmly pursued ; for all of us made after them :
some of them fled to the village from whence we were come,
others made at the top of their speed to their camp, and all
of us after them : only the king stayed behind with some of
his troops, and put himself in no little danger by doing so.
One of the first men of the enemy who was slain was the
Lord Rodolph of Mantua, the marquis's uncle (who was to
have sent orders to the Lord Anthony of Urbino, when it
was time for him to advance), for they thought the battle
would have lasted a long while, according to the custom of
Italy ; and the Lord Anthony excused himself upon that
score, but I believe he saw nothing to encourage him to
advance. We had a great number of grooms and servants
with our waggons, who flocked about the Italian men-at-
arms, when they were dismounted, and knocked most of them
on the head. The greatest part of them had their hatchets
(which they cut their wood with) in their hands, and with
them they broke up their head-pieces, and then knocked out
their brains ; otherwise they could not easily have killed
them, they were so very well armed ; and to be sure there
were three or four of our men to attack one man-at-arms.
The long swords also which our archers and servants wore
did very good execution. The king continued on the
ground where he had been charged, declaring that he would
neither follow the chase nor retire to our vanguard, which
was at too far a distance. He had appointed seven or eight
young gentlemen to attend constantly about him. He had
escaped very well the first charge, considering how near he
was to the enemy ; for within twenty paces of him the bas-
tard of Bourbon was taken prisoner and carried off to their
camp.
1495.] VICTORY OF THE FRENCH. 215
Ch. XII. — Consequences of the Victory gained by the French at For-
novo; and the Danger to which King Charles VIII. found himself
exposed. — 1495.
The king (as I said before) remained in the same place,
and so ill attended that of all his squadron he had none left
him but Anthony des Aubus, a gentleman of his bed-cham-
ber, a little man, and but ill-armed ; the others were all dis-
persed, as he told me himself at night before their faces, and
they ought to have been ashamed of themselves : but they
returned to his assistance very seasonably ; for a small party
of the routed enemy coming along the road, and perceiving
it so thin of men, fell upon the king and the aforesaid gen-
tleman of his bed-chamber ; but the king, by the activity of his
horse (which was the best in the world), kept them at bay
till others of his men came up, who were not far off; and
then the Italians were all forced to fly. Upon this the king
took their counsel and retired to his van, which had never
stirred from its ground. Thus the king came off victoriously
with the main battle, and if the van had advanced but a
hundred paces, the enemy's whole army would have fled :
some said they ought to have advanced, and others that they
ought not.
Our troops, which had pursued, followed the enemy to
their very camp, which was extended towards Fornovo ; and
I saw none of our men touched but one Julian Bourgneuf,
who fell down dead from a blow that was given him by an
Italian who passed by him ; but he was very ill armed.
Upon that accident our men stopped, and cried, " Let us re-
turn to the king ; " and at that very word the whole party
halted to give their horses breath, which had been very
hard ridden, and were tired with the length of the way,
which was full of sharp stones and gravel. Not far from us
we saw a party of about thirty of the enemy's men-at-arms
march along in retreat ; but we were in disorder and suf-
fered them to pass. When our horses had taken a little
breath we went in search of the king, not knowing where
he was : we set off at a good trot, but we had not gone far
before we perceived him at a great distance. We then
r 4
216 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
caused our servants to alight and gather up the lances,
which lay very thick upon the field, and especially the bour-
donnasses ; but they were good for nothing, for they were
hollow and light, and weighed no more than a javelin, yet
they were finely painted ; so that we were now better furnished
with lances than on the day before, and marched directly
towards the king. In our way we fell in with several
bodies of the enemy's foot, who were of the marquis's divi-
sion, and had hid themselves behind the hills when he made
his charge upon the king. Several of them were slain ; but
others got over the river and escaped, and we did not trou-
ble ourselves much about them.
Some of our men in the heat of the action cried out
"Remember Guynegate," which was a battle* we had lost
in King Louis' time in Picardy against the King of the
Romans, because our people fell to plundering the waggons,
though there our men had got nothing ; but here their Estra-
diots took what they thought good, and pillaged as they
pleased ; but they carried off* only five and fifty of our richest
and best-covered sumpters, which belonged to the king and
his chamberlains, and took one of the king's gentlemen of
the bed-chamber called Gabriel t, to whose care were com-
mitted all the relics and curiosities which for a long time had
belonged to the kings of France, and were then in the army,
because the king was there in person. Many other of our
sumpters and waggons were overturned, destroyed, and plun-
dered by our own men ; but the enemy had no more than I have
already mentioned. We had, indeed, several pimps and
wenches who followed the camp on foot, who stripped the
dead and did a great deal of mischief.
To speak the truth (upon impartial information from both
sides), we lost only Julian Bourgneuf, the captain of the
king's gate, nine of the Scottish archers, one gentleman of
the household, about twenty horse of the vanguard, and
seventy or eighty servants belonging to our baggage. Qn
their side they lost three hundred and fifty men-at-arms
upon the field; for no prisoners were taken, which perhaps
never happened before. Few of their P^stradiots were slain,
for they were busy in plundering when they should have
* See Book VI. Chap. 5. for an account of this battle.
♦ Gabriel de la Bondiniere. — Dupont, ii. 478.
vi495.] LOSS OF THE CONFEDERATES. 217
6een fighting. In the whole (as I have been informed by
several of their nobility) they lost three thousand five hun-
dred men (others say more), and among them were several
persons of quality. I myself saw a list of eighteen, all of
them considerable persons, and among the rest four or five
of the Gonzagas, which is the name of the marquis's own
family. The Marquis of Mantua in this battle lost sixty
gentlemen of his own subjects, all mounted and not one on
foot among them. It is strange that so many should have been
killed with the sword, for our artillery killed not ten in both
armies, and the battle lasted not a quarter of an hour ; for
as soon as the enemy had broken their lances they fled, and
the chase lasted about three-quarters of an hour. Their
battles in Italy used not to be managed at this rapid rate ;
their custom was to fight squadron after squadron, and the
fight lasted sometimes a whole day together, without either
side winning the victory.
The rout was great on their side : three hundred of their
men-at-arms, and most of their Estradiots fled, some to Reg-
gio *, and others to Parma, which was about eight leagues
from the field of battle. When our army was first engaged
in the morning, the Count de Petillane and the Lord Virgil
Ursini fled from us : the Lord Virgil only retired to a gen-
tleman's house hard by, and stayed there upon his parole ;
but the truth is, we had done him an injury. The Count de
Petillane went over to the enemy; he was a person well
known in their army, for he had always had a command
under the Florentines or King Ferrand. As soon as he
was got amongst them he began to cry out " A Petillane, a
Petillane ;" and he followed those who fled above three
leagues, calling out to them, and assuring them that there
was no danger, and that if they faced about, the day would
still be their own : by which means he rallied a great part
of then), and gave them good hopes ; and if it had not
been for him, it would have been a total defeat, for it was
a great encouragement to them to have such an officer escapa
from us and come to their assistance.
He was eager for attacking us again that very night, but
all the rest of the officers opposed it. He told me so him-
* This is not Reggio in Calabria, but another city of the 6ame naiM
in the (iukeduiu of Modena, fifteen miles from Parma.
218 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
self afterwards, and the Marquis of Mantua confirmed it,
and owned that advice to be his ; and this is certain, had it
not been for him, their army would not have kept together
till morning.
As soon as we were got up to the king, we discovered a
great body of men-at-arms drawn up in order of battle out-
side their camp, with some infantry ; but we could only see
their heads and the tops of their pikes and lances. They had
stood there all day, but they were farther off than we
imagined: before we could have come at them we must have
passed the river, which was deep, and increased every hour,
for it had thundered, lightened, and rained most prodigiously
all that day, especially during the fight and while we were
in the pursuit. The king immediately called a council of
war, in which it was debated whether he should advance
against this new body or not. There were then with him
three Italian knights ; one of them was Signor John James
di Trivulce (who is yet living, and behaved himself very
well that day) ; another was Signor Francisco Secco, a brave
man of seventy-two years of age, who had been bred a
soldier under the Florentines ; the third was Signor Camillo
Vitelli, who, with three of his brothers, was then in the
kind's service.. These came unsent for from Citta-de-
Castello as far as Sarzana (which is a great way), to be pre-
sent at this battle ; and, finding that it was impossible to
come in time enough with his troops, Camillo left them to
march slowly after, and advanced with all speed to overtake
the king. The last two were of opinion that we should
attack the body that was still unbroken ; but the French
officers being consulted, gave their judgment against it, pre-
tending that we had done enough, and that it grew late and
was time to think of quarters.
Secco persisted, and pressed hard to have that body
charged ; he showed them that people were passing to and
fro upon the great road that led to Parma (which was the
next town they had to retreat to), and assured them that the
enemy were either flying or rallying again ; and, as we
heard afterwards, he was in the right. His behaviour and
counsel denoted him to be a brave and wise man, for all the
officers told me afterwards, and some of them before the
Duke of Milan's face, that, if we had but advanced against
1495.' RESULTS OF THE VICTORY. 219
them, we had certainly obtained the greatest and most glori-
ous victory that the French nation had won for ten years !
and, had we known how to have improved it, and obliged
the people by our civil treatment of them, in eight days'
time the Duke of Milan would not have had anything left
but the castle of Milan, so inclinable were his subjects to
revolt from him. And the Venetians would have been much
in the same condition, and there would have been no need
to care about Naples ; for the Venetians would have been
able to have raised men only in Venice, Brescia and Cre-
mona (which is but a small place), for all the rest of their
territories in Italy would have been lost. But God had dealt
by us as Jerome had foretold, and we had the honour of the
day, though, to speak truth, our ill conduct did not deserve
it, nor did we then know how to manage our victory ; but
now, in the year 1497, if such good fortune should happen
to the king, I think he could order it better.
Whilst we were in this suspense the night drew on, and
the enemy that had faced us marched off into their camp.
"VVe, on the other side, took up our quarters about a quarter
of a league from the field of battle. The king lay in a farm-
house or cottage (to judge by the meanness of the building),
but the houses belonging to it were full of unthreslied corn,
which served for provender for our horses. There were a
few houses besides that in which the king lay, but they were
even worse than it ; so they were but little benefit to us, and
every one was forced to quarter as he could. For my part,
I remember I lay in a little pitiful vineyard, upon the ground
without any shelter; for the king had borrowed my cloak in
the morning, and my baggage was not to be found. He that
had anything to eat kept himself from starving ; but very
few had any victuals more than a crust of bread or so,
which they took from their servants. I saw the king in his
chamber, where there were several wounded ; amongst the
rest, the seneschal of Lyons and others, whom he caused to
be dressed. The king was very cheerful, and every one was
pleased he had escaped so well ; but we did not boast and
swagger as we used to do, for the enemy was at hand. All
our Swiss were that night upon the guard; the king gave
them three hundred crowns, and they watched very diligently
and their drums beat bravely during the whole night.
220 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
Ch. XIIT. — How the Lord of Argenton went alone to parley with the
Enemy, upon the Refusal of those that were deputed to go along with
him, and of the King's safe Arrival with his whole Army at Asti. —
1495.
The next morning I resolved with myself to pursue our
negotiations for peace, as I was still very solicitous about the
king's passage in safety ; but I could scarce find a trumpeter
that would venture to the enemy's camp, because nine of
their trumpeters had been slain (unwittingly) in the battle,
and they had taken one of ours and killed another, whom (as
I mentioned before) the king had sent to them before the
fight began ; but at last one of our trumpeters was pre-
vailed upon to go, and went to the enemy with a passport
from the king, and brought me another to meet and confer
in the midway between the two armies. I judged it to be
dangerous ; however, I resolved not to break with them, nor
pretend any difficulty. The king nominated the Cardinal of
St. Malo, the Lord de Gie, marshal of France, the Lord de
Piennes his chamberlain, and myself. The enemy appointed
the Marquis of Mantua captain-general of the Venetians,
the Count di Cajazzo general for the Duke of Milan, and
formerly of our side, and Signors Luca Pisani and Melchior
Trevisano the two proveditors. We approached so near that
we could plainly discern them, and that there were only
those four upon the bank and the river between us, which
was much swollen since the day before. Nobody but they
appeared out of their camp, and on our side there was no-
body but we four and a sentinel that stood over against
them. We sent a herald to know whether they would pass
the river to us, which I thought a hard matter to persuade
them to, because I believed it was what both sides would
scruple to do. Their answer was, that by agreement the
conference was to be in the midway between the two armies ;
that they had advanced already above half-way, and, being
the chief officers in their army, they could not pass over with-
out danger, which they did not think it prudent to venture.
Our deputies were as careful of themselves, and made the
9ame difficulty on their side, but would needs have me go
1495.] PARLEYS WITH THE ENEMY. 221
and confer with them without further instructions. I told
them I could not in discretion go alone, and that I would at
least have one witness along with me. Upon which there
went with me one of the king's secretaries called Robertet,
a servant of my own, and a herald, with whom I passed the
river, in confidence that, if I could not come to any accom-
modation, I should yet discharge my duty to them, since by
my means the conference had been accepted. When I came
within hearing, I told them they were not come half-way as
they pretended, and that they ought at least to have come to
the river's side ; however, since they were so near, I did not
think it fit to let them return without being spoken with.
They replied that the river was broad, and the noise of the
waters so great, that they could not hear us from the other
side ; and I could use no argument powerful enough to per-
suade them to advance any farther ; but they asked me for my
proposals. I answered, that I had no such commission, and
that alone I could say nothing to them ; but, if they pleased
to offer anything, I would acquaint the king with it. While
we stood talking in this manner, a herald came to me to let
me know that our commissioners were going back, and I
might make what overtures I pleased ; but I refused to do
that, for they understood the king's pleasure better than I,
as being his confidants; besides which, they had whispered
in his ear at their coming away ; but, as to the business then
in discussion, I knew as much as the best of them.
The Marquis of Mantua began to discourse about the battle,
and asked me if the king would have put him to death if he
had taken him prisoner. I told him " No," but he would
have treated him honourably ; for the king had reason to
esteem him, for the great honour he had gained by attack-
ing him. Then he spoke to me in behalf of the prisoners,
and particularly of his uncle the Lord Rodolph, whom he
thought to be alive, but I knew the contrary ; however, I
assured him they should all be civilly used ; and then I
recommended to him the bastard of Bourbon, who was
their prisoner. It was no hard matter to use our prisoners
well ; for we had none, which perhaps had never been
known in any battle before ; and the marquis had lost
seven or eight of his near relations, and about sixscore of
his men-at-arms. After which discourse I took my leaveb
222 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
and promissed to return before night ; until when we agreed
to a cessation of arms.
Upon my return to the king, with his secretary, he asked
me what news ? and immediately called a council of war in
a pitiful poor chamber; but everybody's eye was fixed
upon his neighbour, and we came to no resolution. The
king whispered something in the Cardinal's ear, and then
told me 1 should go back, and see what they would say
(but, as the proposition of a conference had proceeded from
me, it was probable they would insist that I should make
some overtures first) ; however, the Cardinal told me I must
conclude nothing ; but that was trifling, for it was not in
my power to conclude anything unless I had instructions
from them. However, I would neither say nor do anything
that might hinder my going, for I resolved to do no harm,
and I was in hopes to discover something by the enemy's
looks, who, without doubt, were more fearful than we ;
and I thought perhaps something or other might fall from
them that might be improved to the benefit of both parties.
So I set out for their camp ; but it was night before I
reached the banks of the river. One of their trumpeters
met me there, with a message from their four commis-
sioners to desire I would advance no further that evening ;
for their Estradiots were upon the guard, who knew nobody,
and therefore, in all probability, it would be dangerous for
me to venture ; but, if I pleased, he told me he would stay
with me all night, and conduct me in the morning. How-
ever, I sent him back, and told him I would be there again
next morning by eight o'clock, and that he should await
me ; or, if anything happened to prevent me, I would give
them notice by a herald ; for I had no mind he should know
anything of our condition that night, nor could I tell what
resolution the king would take ; for I saw people whispering
in his ear, which made me suspicious ; and so I returned to
give his majesty an account of what I had done.
Every man supped on what he could get to eat, and took
up his lodging upon the ground. About midnight I went
to the king's quarters, where I found the gentlemen of his
bed-chamber booted and spurred, and ready to mount on
horseback. They acquainted me with the king's resolution
of retreating with all expedition towards Asti and the
149-5.] CHARLES VIII. RETREATS TO ASTI. 223
territories of the Marchioness of Montferrat ; and desired
me to stay behind and amuse the enemy with a treaty. I
heartily thanked them for their love, told them I took no
delight in being killed, and that I would be on horseback
as soon as the best. Awhile after the king awaked ; and,
having heard mass, he mounted immediately. An hour
before day one of our trumpeters sounded the watch, but
when we marched off we made no use of our trumpets, nor,
indeed, was it proper to do so : however, this silent stealing
away in the night was enough to have discouraged the
whole army, especially those who knew what it meant ; for
we turned our back upon the enemy, and consulted nothing
but our safety, which in an army is of dangerous conse-
quence. Besides, at our first decampment we had very
difficult marching ; for the ways were deep and woody, and,
having no guides, we lost ourselves several times. 1 heard
the soldiers call for guides to their ensigns ; but the master
of the horse and all of them answered there were none :
but we had no need of any, for God had conducted us
thither, and (as Friar Jerome said) He would carry us back
again ; otherwise it could not have been supposed that so
great a prince would have marched in the night without a
guide, where so many might have been had. Besides, God
gave us a greater evidence than this of His immediate pro-
tection ; for the enemy perceived nothing of our decamp-
ment till noon the next day, as they still depended upon
the treaty which I had set on foot : and then the river was
so swollen, it was past four in the afternoon before any
durst venture over to pursue us. The first that passed was
the Count di Cajazzo, with two hundred Italian light horse,
but the current was so strong, they passed in a great deal
of danger, and, as I was told afterwards, one or two men
were drowned.
In the meantime, we marched on through woody and un-
even ways, where we could go but one abreast for near six
miles together; but at last we came into a fair plain, where
our van, artillery, and baggage were arrived already, and
were so numerous and great, that at first sight they frighted
us, when we saw the white colours chequered with red,
which belonged to Signor John James di Trivulce, and were
like those which were carried before the Marquis of Mantua
224 THE MEMOIRS OF PITIUP DE COMMINES. [1495
in the fight. Our van were in no less fear of our rear, seeing
them at a distance alon^r the road, and marching towards
them as fast as they could ; upon which both parties stood
to their arms, and drew up in order of battle : but this fear
was soon over, for our scouts met immediately, and recog-
nised one another ; so we marched to Borgo San-Donino,
where we halted and refreshed our men, and where also a
false alarm was given, on purpose to get our Swiss out of
the town, lest they should have plundered it. From thence
we marched, and took up our quarters that night at Firen-
zuola, and the second night near Piacenza, where we passed
the Trebia, but left two hundred lances, our Swiss, and all
our artillery, except six guns, on the other side of the river:
and this the king did, that his army might encamp more
commodiously ; for the river is usually low, and especially
at that time of the year. However, about ten o'clock at
night it swelled so fast, that nobody could get over either on
foot or on horseback ; neither could one party have relieved
the other, in case of necessity, which was a matter of great
concern, considering how near the enemy were to us. All
that night was spent on both sides in contriving a remedy;
but nothing would do till the water fell of itself, which hap-
pened at about five in the morning. Then we threw over
ropes to the other side, to help the passage of our foot, who
were forced to wade up to the waist in water. When they
were over, the horse and artillery followed ; but with great
difficulty and danger, not only from the garrison of Piacenza,
but from the Count di Cajazzo, who was got into the town,
upon intelligence that there were designs to betray it to the
king, in trust for a young son of John Galeas, the last Duke
of Milan, who had died not long before, as you have heard.
If the king would have accepted such overtures as these,
several other persons and towns would willingly have come
over to him, by the interest of Signor John James di
Trivulce; but lie would not hearken to anything prejudicial
to the pretensions of his cousin the Duke of Orleans, who
was then in Novara ; and yet, to speak impartially on the
other hand, his majesty was not desirous to advance the
grandeur and power of his cousin ; but his chief design was
to march on with his army, and leave these disputes to be
adjusted as they might. The third day after the battle, the
1495.] CHARLES vm. ARRIVES AT NICE. 225
king dined at Castel San-Giovanni, and lay in a wood ; the
fourth he dined at Voghera, and lay at Ponte Curone ; the
next night he lay near Tortona, where he passed the river
Scrivia, which Fraeasse* was to have defended, for the
garrison of Tortona supported the Duke of Milan, and were
commanded by him : but when he was informed by our
quarter-masters that the king intended not to remain, he
retired into the town, and sent us word, that he would
furnish us with what provisions we pleased ; and he faithfully
performed his promise ; for when our whole army marched
under the walls of the town, Fraeasse came out (in his
armour) to wait upon the king, but attended only by two
persons ; he excused himself as handsomely as he could for
not quartering us in the town, sent us out more provisions,
(so that our army was plentifully furnished,) and came again
at night, to pay his respects to the king in his tent. But
you must know he was of the house of St. Severino, brother
to the Count di Cajazzo, and the Lord Galeas ; and not long
before had served the king in Romagna, as has been already
observed. From thence our next march was to Nizza della
Paglia f, which belongs to the Marquisate of Montferrat ; and
glad we were to reach that place ; for then we were safe,
and in the country of our friends. Before our arrival there,
the enemy's light horse, under the command of the Count di
Cajazzo, were perpetually at our heels, and gave us great
disturbance ; for few of our horse were willing to be in the
rear, and the nearer we approached to a place of security,
the more difficult it was to persuade them to fight. Some say
this is the nature of the French, and Italian authors have
written, that in their attacks they are more than men, but
less than women in their retreats. The first part of their
character I believe, for certainly upon a charge they are the
fiercest nation in the world (I mean their cavalry) ; but at
the end of an engagement, there is no nation in the world
but is less daring and courageous than they were in the be-
ginning of the action.
* Gasparo, surnamed Fracasso de San Severino.
f Generally known as Nice. Charles VIII. arrive 1 there on Monday,
July 13. 1495.
vol. n.
2£3 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
Ch. XIV. — How the Swiss secured the French army in its retreat. —
1495.
But to continue this discourse : Our rear was brought up
by three hundred Swiss, with several field-pieces, and a
strong body of hackbutters, who drove off" the Estradiots,
who were not numerous. However, the grand army which
had fought us was pursuing with all possible diligence, but
as they began their march a day after us, and were heavily
armed, they could not get up to us ; so that we lost not a
man in our retreat, nor could they ever come within twenty
miles of our rear. When they found they could not come
up with us, (and perhaps they never desired it,) they turned
off towards Novara, where, as we said before, the Duke of
Milan and the Venetians had another army ; but if they
could have reached us, soon after we began our retreat, in
all probability they had succeeded better than in the valley
of Fornovo.
I have said in several places of these Memoirs, that I
have seen, and by experience found, that God the Creator
was our conductor in this expedition into Italy ; yet it is
convenient for me to repeat it again, for though from the
time of the battle to our arrival at Nice, our quarters were
taken up without proper order, yet we bore the hardships and
inconveniences of the long march, without raising any mutiny
or murmuring in the least. Our great want was of pro-
visions, yet we were in some measure supplied by the country
people, who might easily have poisoned us if they had
pleased, not only in our victuals and wine, but in our water
too, and our wells, which might have been dried up in a
moment ; for I do not remember I saw any but what were
very small. If they had had a mind to have destroyed ua
by poison, it was in their power to have done it, and there-
fore we may reasonably believe our Saviour and Redeemer
Jesus Christ prevented that desire in them. I have seen
our men so thirsty, that our foot in great numbers have lam
down, and drank out of the ditches round about the little
villages through which we marched. Our marches were
long, and our drink nothing but standing water that stank;
And yet our men were so greedy, they plunged in it up to
H95.] CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH ARMT IN RETREAT. 227
the waist to come at it ; for we had multitudes that followed
the camp, and were not soldiers, but attended to our mules.
The king always marched before day, but never took a
guide with him, nor baited till noon, and then he dined ;
and those that attended him took what care they could of
themselves. No man in the whole army, though of the
best quality, was excused from looking to his own horse,
but every one brought his own straw or hay in his arms.
Twice I did it myself, and was two days without eating any
thing but bread, and that none of the best; yet I suffered
not so much hardship as others did. Our army was highly
to be commended for one thing, and that is, that I never
heard any of our soldiers complain ; and yet it was the most
painful and incommodious march I ever made, though I
have been through several that were bad enough, with
Charles Duke of Burgundy. We marched no faster than
our artillery, and were often forced to halt, on purpose to
mend the guns, which, because of the want of horses to
draw them, incommoded us extremely; but whenever we
were hard put to it, we were generously supplied by the
officers of the army ; so that we lost not one piece, nor one
pound of powder in our retreat; and yet I am of opinion
never any man saw guns of their size conveyed with such
expedition through such impassable places. And if I have
mentioned any thing of disorder or inconvenience in our
quarters or elsewhere, it was not for want of good officers
and men of experience in our army ; but (as fortune would
have it), they had no authority with the king, who was
young and intractable, as I have said before ; so that to
conclude, our Saviour Jesus Christ did most manifestly
reserve all the glory of that journey to himself.
The seventh day after the battle, we marched from Nice,
and encamped all together in the field, not far from Ales-
sandria. We doubled our guards that night, and kept very
strict watch, and the next morning we marched to Asti,
that is to say, the king and those that attended on him, but
the army continued in the field. We found the town of
Asti well furnished with provisions, which was a great re-
freshment to our wearied troops, who wanted them severely,
having endured much hunger, thirst, labour, heat, and
watching; and after all had no clothes to their backs, but
228 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILir DE COMMINES. [H95.
what were ragged and worn out. As soon as the king was
in Asti, about an hour before bedtime, I despatched a
gentleman named Philip de la Couldre (who had formerly
been in my service, but was then a servant to the Duke of
Orleans), to Novara, where the duke was besieged, though
not so closely but that people might get in and out ; for
their design was only to starve them. I sent him word by
this gentleman, that our king had several treaties on foot
with the Duke of Milan (one of which I managed by means
of the Duke of Ferrara), for which reason I thought it con-
venient he should immediately come to the king, after he
had assured his party in the town that he would return in a
short time, or send them relief. They were no less than
7500 men in pay, and as fine a body of troops (for their
number) both French and Swiss, as ever were seen in the
field. After the king had been a day at Asti, he had intel-
ligence from the Duke of Orleans and from others, that the
enemies' two armies were joined before Novara ; and the
duke pressed for supplies, for (by reason of their imprudence
at first) their provisions now began to fail ; but had they
been so provident when they came into the town, as they
ought to have been, they need not have been in distress ;
for there was plenty enough in the villages about it, espe-
cially of corn, which if they had brought in time into the
town, and carefully laid up in their magazines, they would
not have been forced to surrender : for had they held out
but one month longer, they would have come off honourably
themselves, and covered the enemy with shame and con-
fusion.
Ch. XV. — How the King fitted out a Fleet with an intention to have
relieved the Caslles of Naples ; and of the Miscarriage of that De-
sign.— 1495.
As soon as the king had refreshed himself for some few
days at Asti, he marched to Turin*; and at his departure
* Charles VIII. arrived at Turin, on Thursday, July 30. 1495.
1495.] OVERTURES OF PEACE. 229
from Asti he despatched Peron de Basche, the steward of
his household, to equip a fleet at Nice with all speed for the
relief of the castles of Naples, which held out for the king.
Peron oheyed his majesty's orders, prepared a fleet, and gave
the command of it to the Lord d'Arban*, who sailed with it
as far as Prucef, within sight of the enemy; but the wea-
ther was bad, and would not suffer them to engage, so that
the fleet did nothing ; for the Lord d'Arban returned to Leg-
horn, where most part of his men got on shore, and ran away
from their ships; and the enemy came with their fleet into
the port of Bengon |, not far from Piombino, where they con-
tinued two months ; so that our men were able to send some
small supplies into Naples, by reason that the nature of the
port of Bengon is such, that unless it be by one single wind
ships can hardly get out, and that wind blows seldom in
winter. The Lord d'Arban was valiant in person, but not a
very skilful admiral.
During the king's stay at Turin many proposals of treaties
passed between the king and the Duke of Milan ; and some
were managed by the mediation of the Duchess of Savoy,
who was the Marquis of Montferrat's daughter, a widow,
and mother to the young duke § that was then living.
Others were transacted by other people : I was also con-
cerned therein : for the confederates (by whom I mean the
commanders at that time before Novara), had a great desire
to have me employed in the matter, and sent me a passport ;
but (as there are always emulations at court) the Cardinal
would not suffer it, but prevailed that the overture proposed
by the Duchess of Savoy might be preferred, which was
managed by the Cardinal's landlord, who was treasurer of
Savoy, a wise man, and a good servant to his mistress: this
* Louis Aleman, Knight, Lord of Arbcnt and Mornay, was long in
the service of Charles, Duke of Burgundy; but having sold the Castle
of Jou, of which he was governor, to Louis XL for 14,000 crowns, he
transferred his allegiance to the French King, from whom he received
considerable preferment. Guicciardini speaks of him as " uomo belli-
coso ma non esperimentato."
f Ponza, a rocky island off the coast of Naples, 35 miles south-west
of Gaeta.
J Porto-Longone, near Piombino.
§ Charles John Amadeus, born on the 24th of June, 1488, succeeded
his father in 1489, and died on the 1 6th of April, 1496.
230 THE MEMOIBS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
treaty took up a long time, and for this cause the Bailiff of
Dijon was sent ambassador into Switzerland, to raise five
thousand of their men.
I have already mentioned the equipment of our fleet at
Nice, and its setting sail for the relief of the castles of Naples,
which it was unable to effect for the above-mentioned rea-
sons ; whereupon the Lord de Montpensier, and the rest of
the officers that were in the castles aforesaid (perceiving
their condition), resolved to march off by the help of the
army, which had been left in divers places for the defence of
that kingdom, and was then drawn as near the castle as pos-
sible ; but they left a number to defend the castles propor-
tionable to the quantity of provisions which remained ; for
they were insufficient to sustain them all. And having
given the command of the garrison to the Lord Ognas and
two other officers of conduct and experience, the Lord de
Montpensier, the Prince of Salerno, the Seneschal of Beau-
caire and others, marched off with two thousand five hun-
dred men, for Salerno. King Ferrand pretended it was con-
trary to their treaty, and that the hostages which they had
given him a few days before (which were the Lord d'Alegre,
Monsieur de la Marche d'Ardain*, the Lord de la Chapelle
d'Anjou, Monsieur Roquebertin, a Catalonian, and one Mon-
sieur Genlyt), were at his mercy, and that he might law-
fully put them to death. You must understand that some
three months before, by intelligence with the enemy, and
our bad order, King Ferrand had got into the town of
Naples \, though our men had notice of all his designs.
I would enlarge upon this, but I can say nothing of it ex-
cept by hearsay (yet I had it from very good hands) ; how-
ever, it is not my method to insist upon any thing that I was
not an eye-witness of myself. But while King Ferrand was
in Naples, he received the news of our master's being killed
• Robert de la Marck, Duke of Bouillon, and Lord of Sedan.
t Jacques de Hangest, Lord of Genlis, and councillor and chamber-
lain to the king. After his deliverance from Naples, he went on a pil-
grimage to Jerusalem, and on his return he was sent on an embassy to
Charles, Archduke of Austria, in 1514.
% Ferdinand re-entered Naples on the 7th of July, 1495. The story
of his recovery of his capital is thus told by Mr. Prescott : — " King Fer-
dinand, having gained new confidence from bis experience of the favour-
able dispositions existing towards him in Calabria, and relying on •
1495.] KING FERDINANT* RECOVERS NAPLES. 231
in the battle of Fornovo ; and our men in the castle had the
same news, from several letters and stories forged by the
Duke of Milan, which they believed as readily as the Co-
lonne, who revolted from us immediately, as desiring to be
always on the strongest side, though (as I said before) they
were under great obligations to the king. Upon these re-
ports, but chiefly because our men were confined in great
numbers in the castle (where provisions were scarce), and
had lost all their horses and household stuff" in the town,
they came to a treaty, on the 19th of October 1495, after they
had been besieged three months and fourteen days) ; and
similar feeling of loyalty in his capital, determined to hazard a bold
stroke for its recovery. He accordingly embarked at Messina, with a
handful of troops only, on board the fleet of the Spanish admiral, Re-
quescns. It amounted in all to eighty vessels, most of them of inconsi-
derable size. With this armament, which, notwithstanding its formid-
able show, carried little effective force for land operations, the adven-
turous young monarch appeared off the harbour of Naples before the end
of June, 1495. The Duke of Montpensier at that time garrisoned Na-
ples with 6000 French troops. On the appearance of the Spanish navy,
he marched out to prevent Ferdinand's landing, leaving a few only of
his soldiers to keep the city in awe. But he had scarcely quitted it be-
fore the inhabitants, who had waited with impatience an opportunity for
throwing off the yoke, sounded the tocsin, and rising in arms through
every part of the city, and massacring the feeble remains of the garri-
son, shut the gates against him ; while Ferdinand, who had succeeded in
drawing off the French commander in another direction, no sooner pre-
sented himself before the walls, than he was received with transports of
joy by the enthusiastic people.
" The French, however, though excluded from the city, by making a
circuit effected an entrance into the fortresses which commanded it. From
these posts Montpensier sorely annoyed the town, making frequent
attacks on it, day and night, at the head of his gendarmerie, until they
were at length checked in every direction by barricades, which the citi-
zens hastily constructed with waggons, casks of stones, bags of sand, and
whatever came most readily to hand. At the same time the windows,
balconies, and house-tops were crowded with combatants, who poured
down such a deadly shower of missiles on the heads of the French as
finally compelled them to take shelter in their defences. Montpensier
was now closely besieged, till at length reduced by famine, he was com-
pelled to capitulate. Before the time prescribed for his surrender had
arrived, however, he effected his escape at night, by water, to Salerno,
at the head of twenty-five hundred men. The remaining garrison, with
the fortresses, submitted to the victorious Ferdinand, at the beginning of
the following year." — Hiitory of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. ii. pp. 288-
890.
232 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMTNES. [1495.
about three weeks after making the treaty, they marched
away. They had promised, that if they were not relieved
by a certain day, they would march off into Provence, and
leave the castles without doing any farther act of hostility
against that kingdom, either by sea or by land ; for per-
formance of which promise the said hostages were given.
And King Ferrand alleged they had broken their promise
by departing without leave ; but our men affirmed the con-
trary ; howbeit, the hostages were in no little danger, and
not without cause. Whatever their articles were, I think
our men did wisely to march away ; but they had done bet-
ter if they had delivered up the castles when they went, and
taken their hostages along with them : for by reason of their
want of provisions and their despair of relief, the remaining
garrison was forced to surrender within twenty days after,
and the loss of the castle of Naples was the loss of the
whole kingdom.
Ch. XVI.— Of the great Famine and Misery to which the Duke of Or*
leans and his army were reduced at Novara: Of the Death of the
Marchioness of Montferrat : Of the Death of the Duke of Vendome ;
and the conclusion of a Peace for the preservation of the besieged
after several negotiations. — 1495.
The king, during his stay at Turin, or at Quiers*, (whither
he went sometimes for his diversion) grew impatient for the
Swiss whom he had sent the Bailiff of Dijon to raise in
Switzerland ; for he was extremely desirous, if possible, to
restore the young Duke of Milan, and paid but little atten-
tion to the distress of his cousin the Duke of Orleans, who
began to be straitened in provisions, and sent couriers to us
every day to beg the king to relieve him. The enemy had
advanced their approaches, and gotten nearer the town than
ever : besides, they were reinforced with a thousand German
horse, under the command of Monsieur Frederic Capelare,
* Chieri, a pleasant little Sardinian town, about eight miles south-e?^t
ef Turin.
1495.] SIEGE OP NOVARA. 233
of the county of Ferrete, a brave soldier and an excellent
officer, and trained in the wars of both Italy and France ;
they had a recruit likewise of eleven thousand Landsknechts,
out of the territories of the King of the Romans, commanded
by Monsieur George Dabecfin *, a native of Austria, a per-
son of great valour, and the very same that took St. Omers
for the King of the Romans.
The king, seeing the enemy's army daily reinforced, and
that no honourable terms were to be expected, was per-
suaded to retire to Ve rcelli "j", and there to concert measures
how to relieve the Duke of Orleans, who (as I have said
before) had taken no care to erect any magazines for the
subsistence of his army upon his first entrance into No-
vara ; and certainly it had been much better for the duke to
have followed the advice which I gave him upon the king's
return to Asti, to put all useless persons out of the town, and
repair himself to the king : for his presence would have ad-
vanced his affairs, or at least the troops he had left behind
would not have been reduced to such extremity of hunger,
for he would have capitulated sooner, had he found there
was no hope of relief. But the Archbishop of Rouen J, who
was with him at the taking of No vara, and was then with
the king, to solicit in his behalf, sent him word not to stir,
and assured him of relief; grounding his confidence upon
the promises of the Cardinal of St. Malo, who was all power-
ful with the king. The archbishop spoke as his affections
prompted him ; but I was assured of the contrary, for no-
body had any inclination to return to the battle, unless the
king went in person, and his Majesty had no inclination to
do so, as the dispute was only about that town, which the
Duke of Orleans desired to keep, and the Duke of Milan to
recover ; because as it is within ten leagues of Milan, he
thought it necessary that they should be both under one
* Called by Molinct (iii. 438.) " George Obestain, a native of Trent,
in Germany." It seems probable that he was a member of the Styrian
family of Herberstein, one of whom greatly distinguished himself in the
wars against the Turks, in 1509. The Landsknechts were the heavy
German infantry.
t Vercelli is sixteen miles south-west of No vara.
X George d'Amboise, afterwards a cardinal, and chief minister of
state to Louis XII. from 1498 to 1509, He died at Lyons, on the 25th
of May, 1510.
234 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [H95,
jurisdiction, there being nine or ten great cities near one
another, within a small compass, and all depending upon the
said duchy. However, Ludovic Sforza offered fair terms,
that if we would deliver up Novara, and not disturb him in
Genoa, in other things he would serve the king to the utmost
of his power.
Several great convoys of provision, both of corn and meal,
were sent into Novara; but they always lost half by the
way ; and once a small force of sixty men-at-arms, under the
command of Chastillon, a young gentleman belonging to the
court, was quite routed ; some were taken, some few entered,
and others with great difficulty escaped ; so that it is not
possible to imagine the extremity the garrison was reduced
to. Every day some were starved to death ; two parts out
of three were afflicted with distempers of which we had piti-
ful and continual accounts, both in cipher and otherwise,
which came to us with very great difficulty. We constantly
gave them fair promises, and as constantly deceived them ;
those who had the sole administration of affairs were very
inclinable to fight, but they did not consider that nobody de-
sired it beside themselves; for the great officers, as for in-
stance the Prince of Orange (whom, upon his late arrival,
the king often consulted in military affairs), and all the other
officers of the army, desired things might be composed and
adjusted by a peace, because winter was approaching, money
wanting, the army but weak and sickly, and soldiers desert-
ing daily, whilst others were dismissed by the king. Yet
all the wise men in the camp were not able to persuade the
Archbishop of Rouen from encouraging the Duke of Orleans
not to leave Novara ; by which advice they brought him
into a great deal of danger ; but this advice proceeded from
an expectation of great recruits out of Switzerland, which
the bailiff of Dijon had assured them he could raise. Some
of our courtiers wrote to him to bring as many troops as he
could assemble ; thus our councils were divided, and every
man wrote and said what he pleased.
Those who were averse to an accommodation, or to any meet-
ing about it, pretended the enemy ought to make over-
tures first, and that it did not consist with the king's honour
to begin ; and the enemy being equally haughty on their
side, the poor garrison in Novara suffered incredibly, and
1495."] DEATH OF THE MARCHIONESS OF MONTFERRAT. 235
their letters were full of nothing but relations of their mi-
series, assuring us, first, that they could not hold out above
ten days, then eight, and at last three ; but they exceeded
the time which they had mentioned. To be brief, such ne-
cessities had not heen known in our time, nor did ever men
suffer so great a famine in a hundred years before.
During this posture of affairs the Marchioness of Mont-
ferrat died, and left her country involved in some troubles
in respect of the competition for its government. The Mar-
quis of Saluzzo pretended to it on one side, and the Lord
Constantine, uncle to the Marchioness, claimed it on the
other. He was a Greek as well as his niece, who was the
King of Servia's daughter; but both of them had been ruined
by the Turks. This Lord Constantine had fortified the
castle of Casale, where he kept in his hands the two sons
(the eldest of whom was scarce nine years old) of the late
marquis, and that beautiful and discreet lady his niece, who
died in the twenty-ninth year of her age, and was a constant
friend to the French. Other persons pretended likewise to
the government, and there was great contest for it before
the king by their respective agents. The king commanded
me to proceed thither, with instructions to settle things for
the advantage of the young children, and the general satis-
faction of the people ; fearing lest by these differences the
Duke of Milan should be brought in, for the lord of that
country was our very good ally.
I was extremely concerned at these orders, especially as I
had to depart before I could set the treaty of peace on foot
again ; for I was sensible in what condition the town was.
1 saw winter approaching, and apprehended lest the pre-
lates * should bring the king to a new battle, in which (un-
less mightily supplied from Switzerland) he would be pro-
bably too weak, and if the supplies were as numerous as
they were reported to be, it would not be safe for the king
to venture himself in their hands; besides, the enemy were
powerful, strongly encamped, and very well fortified. Upon
these considerations, I presumed to tell the king that, in my
judgment, he was about to put himself and his kingdom in
very great hazard, upon a small and trifling occasion ; that
the danger which he escaped at the battle of Fornovo ought
* The Cardinal of St. Malo, and the Archbishop of Bouen.
236 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
not to be forgotten, but that there he was under necessity,
and here he was not. Wherefore I did humbly recommend
him not to lose an honourable accommodation by stickling
for the first overture ; and if he pleased to authorise me, I
questioned not but I could make a peace without the least
dishonour to either side. He replied that he would have me
speak to the Cardinal ; and so I did, but he gave me strange
unaccountable answers, expressing an inclination to fight,
and making sure of the victory ; and he told me the Duke of
Orleans had promised, whenever he came to the duchy of
Milan, to give him ten thousand ducats a year for one of his
sons. The next morning I went to wait on the king, and
take leave of his majesty, in order to begin my journey to
Casale (which would take me about a day and a half). I
there met the Lord de la Trimouille, and acquainted him
with what had passed (he being related to the king*), and
desired his judgment whether I ought to mention the affair
to him again ; he told me to do so by all means, for everybody
was very desirous of peace. The king was at that time in
the garden ; so I revived the discourse before the Cardinal,
who told me that it was most proper for him, being an eccle-
siastic, to begin it. I answered, if he did not, I would ; for
I perceived the king was inclinable enough, and so were all
that were about him. After which I took my leave ; and
at my departure I told the Prince of Orange (who com-
manded the army in chief), that if I began anything in that
business, my addresses should be to him ; and so I went to
Casale, where I was well received by all that family, and
found them nearly all in favour of the Lord Constantine, as
a fitter [person for the guardianship of the children ; for he
was incapable of the succession, to which the Marquis of
Saluzzo pretended a right. For several days together, I
assembled both the nobility, clergy, and townsmen, and, at
the request of most of them, I declared that it was my
master's pleasure that the Lord Constantine should be con-
tinued in the government ; for, considering the king's forces
on that side of the mountains, and the affection that country
had always retained to the court of France, I presumed they
would not contradict the king's desires.
o
* By his wife, Gabrielle de Bourbon, who was a daughter of the Count
de Moutpensior.
1495.] CONDITION OF THE FRENCH ARMY. 237
I had scarce been three days at Casale before there
arrived a gentleman from the Marquis of Mantua, captain-
general of the Venetians, with compliments of condolence
upon the death of the late Marchioness ; for he was related
to the family of Montferrat. This gentleman was steward
of the marquis's household, and he and I by degrees
began to consult how we might prevent the battle that was
likely to occur shortly ; for all things tended to war, and the
king was encamped not far from Vercelli ; though, to speak
the truth, he had only passed the river, and let his army
encamp there, which was but ill-provided with tents and
pavilions, for they had brought but lew with them, and those
few were lost; besides, the ground was moist, — for winter
was coming on, and the country is but low.
The king lay but one night in the camp, and returned
next morning to the town ; hut the Prince of Orange re-
mained with the army, and with him the Counts of Foix
and Vendome*, the latter of whom fell into a dysentery and
died, to the unspeakable sorrow of the whole army, for he
was a young gentleman of great valour and conduct, and
came thither post upon the report of a coming battle ; bnt
he was not with the king in his expedition into Italy.
There were likewise the Marshal de Gie, and several other
commanders, but their principal force was the Swiss, who
had been in Italy with the king ; for the French, being so
near home, were very unwilling to stay any longer in the
camp, and several had already left it, some with leave and
others without it. From Vercelli to Novara was ten good
Italian miles, that is six French leagues ; the country was
flat and dirty, with ditches on both sides the road, much
deeper than those in Flanders : in winter the roads are full
of mud, and in summer of dust. Between our army and
Novara there was a little town called Borgo, which we had
taken possession of; and the enemy had another about the
same distance from their camp, called Cameri : but the waters
being up, the passage was very difficult from one army to
the other.
But as I was saying, the steward of the Marquis of Man-
tua's household and 1 continued our conferences. I gave him
several reasons why his master ought to be cautious of com-
* Francois de Bourbon, Count of Vendome, born in 1470, died on
the 3rd of October, 1495.
238 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
ing to a battle. I put him in mind of the danger he had
lately escaped, and that he would expose himself for a people
who had never rewarded him for services he had done ; and
that, therefore, his wisest method would be to endeavour an
accommodation, and I promised to do all that lay in my
power to promote it. He replied that his master was well
enough inclined, but that it would be necessary (as I had
received intimation before) that we should make the first
overture, because they looked upon their alliance, which
consisted of the Pope, the King of the Romans, the King of
Spain, and the Duke of Milan, to be of greater dignity than
a single monarch. I answered that this punctilio was idle
and trifling, and that in justice our king was to be preferred,
because he was there in person, and the confederates were
represented only by their lieutenants. But I offered, if he
pleased, that he and I as mediators would set the treaty on
foot, provided I could be assured his master would continue
it, and observe it ; and finally it was concluded that I
should send a trumpeter to their army the next morning, and
that I should write to Signor Luca Pisano and Signor Mel-
chior Trevisano, the two Venetian proveditors, or commis-
sioners appointed to advise their generals and superintend
the affairs of the army.
In pursuance of what we concluded, I wrote to the prove-
ditors the substance of what I had mentioned before to the
Marquis of Mantua's steward ; and I had a fair opportunity
to offer my mediation, upon account of the agreement made
between us at my departure from Venice. Besides, I knew the
king was desirous of peace, and I thought it necessary, — for
there are always enough persons to perplex and exasperate
an affair, but few that combine the good fortune and courage
necessary to compose so great a difference, or to endure so
many hard words as are said by the plenipotentiaries in
such negotiations ; for in great armies there is sure to be a
variety of opinions. The proveditors were glad of the news,
and sent me word I should have an answer very suddenly,
for they sent post to Venice for instructions ; and having a
speedy answer from the Signory, a count belonging to the
Duke of Ferrara was sent to our camp. The Duke of Fer-
rarra had one son in the Duke of Milan's service, and
another in the king's. The count also was in the Duke of
1 495. J PROPOSALS FOR PEACE. 239
Milan's service, his name was Albertini* ; but his pretence
of coming into our army was to visit Signor John James di
Trivulce, and to inquire after one of his sons who was then
in that captain's service. He made application to the
Prince of Orange, according to the agreement between the
steward and myself, and told him he had a commission from
the Marquis of Mantua, and the proveditors and other cap-
tains, to desire a passport for the marquis and fifty horse, to
meet and confer with such persons as the king should de-
pute ; and he acknowledged that in reason they ought to
make the first overture to the king, or such as he should
appoint, and that they would pay him that honour ; and then
he desired he might have a private conference with his
majesty, which was granted him, and in which he advised
him not to set any treaty on foot, assuring him that their
army was in great consternation, and would break up in a
very short time. By these words he seemed desirous to ob-
struct that peace which he was sent to promote, though his
public commission was as you have heard. Signor John
James di Trivulce was present when he gave the king this
advice, and being a great enemy to the Duke of Milan, he
had no mind to the peace ; but, above all, no man was so
averse to it as Count Albertini's master, the Duke of Fer-
rara, who desired the continuation of the war upon account
of an old pique against the Venetians, who had taken from
him several territories, as the Polesan and others ; and this
duke was therefore come himself into the army of the Duke
of Milan, who had married his daughter.
As soon as the king had heard what the count had to
offer, his majesty sent for me, and it was warmly debated
whether a passport should be granted or not. Those who
were against the peace (as Signor John James di Trivulce
and others, who thought themselves great favourers of the
interest of the Duke of Orleans,) were for fighting by all
means ; but they were, most of them, churchmen, and not
like to be in the battle, and they pretended to have certain
intelligence that the enemy must suddenly raise the siege,
or be starved to death. Others objected (and I was of that
number) that we should be starved first ; that the enemy
were in their own country, and their power too great to be
* Albertino Boschetto. — Guazzo, p. 218.
240 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
bo easily destroyed ; and that such counsel proceeded from
persons who had a mind to engage us in their quarrels, and
set us fighting purely to gratify their own revenge and ara»
bition. Yet, for all this, the passport was granted and sent,
signifying, that the next day at two o'clock in the afternoon,
the Prince of Orange, the Marshal de Gie, the Lord de
Piennes, and myself, with our retinue, should be between
Borgo and Cameri, near a certain tower, in which they
had a guard, and that there we should be ready to enter
into a conference. At the appointed hour, we went to the
place under a strong guard. The Marquis of Mantua and
a Venetian who had the command of their Estradiots *, came
to us, and in very civil language told us, that for their
part they were desirous of peace. For better convenience
of treating, it was agreed, that the next day some of their
deputies should come into our camp, and that the day after
some of ours should go into theirs, which was done. The
next morning there came to us Signor Francisco Bernardino
Visconti on behalf of the Duke of Milan, and a secretary
from the Marquis of Mantua. On our side, besides the
persons above mentioned, we had added to us the Cardinal
of St. Malo, and we began to treat. They demanded Novara,
in which the Duke of Orleans was besieged ; and we in-
sisted upon having Genoa, saying, it was feudatory to the
king, and that the Duke of Milan had confiscated it. They
excused themselves as to that, assuring us that their master
had done nothing against the king except in his own de-
fence ; that the Duke of Orleans had taken Novara from
them by force, and begun the war with our king's forces ;'
and that therefore they thought their masters would be
hardly persuaded to agree to these demands, but in any thing
else would be ready to comply. Our conferences lasted two
days, after which they returned to their camp, whither the
Marshal de Gie, the Lord de Piennes, and myself, were sent
after them to press for the restitution of Genoa. We would
have been content that Novara should have been sur-
rendered to the forces of the King of the Romans, which
were commanded by Signor George di Pietraplantaf , the
* According to Guicciardini (i. 336.) his name was Bernardo Con-
tarino.
f This is the Herberstein mentioned in a previous note, whose nam*
is thus Italianised by Guicciardini also.
1495. J NEGOCIATIONS AT VEKCELLI. 241
Lord Frederic Capellare, and another called Monsieur Hans ;
for we found it could not be relieved without a battle, which
we had no great inclination to venture ; and by this means
(as we pretended) we proposed to acquit ourselves very
honourably to the emperor, of whom the whole duchy of
Milan is held as a fief. Several goings and comings there
were between our camp and theirs, but we came to no man-
ner of conclusion. I continued constantly with them by
the king's direction (who was unwilling the treaty should
be broken off) ; and, at last, our deputies came to them
again, and with us we had the President de Gannay, and
one Monsieur de Morvilliers, Bailiff of Amiens, to speak
with them in Latin, (for till then I had conducted the con-
ferences in bad Italian,) and to draw up the articles. Our
manner of treating was to go to the duke's quarters, and he,
in complaisance, used to meet us with his duchess at the
end of a gallery, and then sent us all before him into his
chamber, where there were two great rows of chairs ready
set, as close as was convenient, and opposite to each other.
They placed themselves on one side, and we sate on the other.
The first on their side was the commissioner for the Kinsr
of the Romans, then the Spanish ambassador, then the
Marquis of Mantua, after him the two proveditors, then
the Venetian ambassador, then the Duke and Duchess of
Milan, and last of all the ambassador of Ferrara. On their
side none spoke but the Duke of Milan, and on our side
nobody but one. It is not our method to discourse with
that sedateness of temper which they do, for sometimes two
or three of us were speaking at a time ; but the duke always
interrupted us with, " Hold, gentlemen, one to one." As we
were obliged to digest all into articles, whatever was agreed
upon was immediately put into writing by one of our secre-
taries for us, and by another of theirs for them ; and this
was read aloud by the secretaries, one in Italian, and the
other in French ; and this was done again at our next meet-
ing, that we might see whether any thing had been changed ;
and it is a good way to dispatch any affair of importance.
This treaty was in progress about a fortnight or longer;
but the first day of our conference it was concluded that the
Duke of Orleans might have liberty to come out of Novara,
to which end a cessation of arms was agreed upon for tha*
vol. ii. a
242 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1495.
day, and continued from day to day till the conclusion of
the peace; and for surety for the passage of the Duke of
Orleans, the Marquis of Mantua delivered himself as a
hostage into the hands of the Count de Foix ; and he did it
voluntarily, and more to give us pleasure than from any
fear; yet first they made us swear that we were proceeding
with sincerity and bona fides in the treaty of peace, and
that we did not do it merely to deliver the duke out of
danger.
Ch. XVIT — How the Duke of Orleans and his Army were delivered
upon Terms of Accommodation from the dire Misery they suffered
during their being besieged in Novara ; and of the Arrival of the
Swiss that came to the Relief of the King and the said Duke of Or-
leans.— 1495.
The Marshal de Gie went into the town of Novara, with
other commissioners deputed by the Duke of Milan, and
dismissed the Duke of Orleans, and some few of his attend-
ants, to their very great satisfaction. Those who were in the
place were so pressed with hunger and sickness, that the
marshal was forced to leave his nephew Monsieur de Rome-
fort* as an hostage, promising they should all be at liberty to
depart within three days. You have heard how the Bailiff
of Dijon had been sent into Switzerland to raise five thou-
sand men in all the cantons ; but when the Duke of Orleans
marched out of Novara they were not arrived ; and it was
well they were not, for had they joined our army, certainly
(at least in my judgment) we should have fought a battle ;
but if we had been sure that their number would be far
greater than we expected, we could not have stayed till
their arrival, by reason of the extreme famine in the town,
where two thousand people were already dead, some with
hunger, some with disease, and the rest were so lean and
meagre they looked more like dead than living people ; and,
truly, I believe never men endured more misery (unless,
perhaps, at the siege of Jerusalem). All which had been
* Louis de Eohau, Lord of Montaubau aud Remefort.
1495."] EVACUATION OF NOVARA. 243
prevented, if they had been so prudent as to have brought
in all the corn and provisions about the town upon their
first coming into it: had they acted so wisely they had
never plunged themselves into those exigencies, for the
enemy would have been obliged to have abandoned the siege,
and to have marched shamefully off.
Some three or four days after the Duke of Orleans had
left the town, it was agreed on both sides that the whole
garrison should march out ; and the Marquis of Mantua, and
the Lord Galeas di San Severino, (who commanded both the
Venetians and the Duke of Milan's army,) had orders to see
them safely conducted away; which was performed, and the
town left in the hands of the inhabitants, under an oath not
to deliver it either to the French or the Italians till the con-
clusion of a general peace. Only thirty men were put into
the castle, who were supplied with provisions by the Duke
of Milan, for money, and they were never to have more pro-
vision at a time than was sufficient for one single day. No
man that did not see it, can conceive the poverty of the gar-
rison that marched out. They had few or no horses left, for
most of them were eaten ; and of the five thousand men
that marched out, scarcely six hundred were able to defend
themselves ; they fell down frequently in the road as they
inarched along, and the enemy were forced to help them up
again. 1 know I saved fifty of them, at the cost of a crown,
not far from the little castle called Cameri, which was in the
enemy's possession, by lodging them in a garden, and giving
them warm broth, so that but one of them died. Upon the
way (it being ten miles between Novara and Vercelli) four
more of them died. The king (as a token of his compassion)
caused eight hundred francs to be distributed amongst those
who came to Vercelli, as a benevolence in addition to their
pay, which was paid to a farthing, both to the living and
the dead, and particularly to the Swiss, of whom there were
near four hundred dead ; yet, notwithstanding all the care
that could be taken of them, about thirty of them died in
Vercelli, some with eating too much, others by diseases, and
some on the dunghills of the town.
About the time that all of them had evacuated the town,
except the thirty left in the castle (and of these one or other
came away every day), the Swiss arrived, to the number
B3
244 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
of eight or ten thousand, in our camp, in which we had
ulready about two thousand who had served in our expedi-
tion to Naples. There were also ten thousand more, but
they were quartered at some distance from Vercelli ; for the
kinc was advised not to suffer the conjunction of two such
treat bodies, which would have amounted together to
wenty-two thousand men, the greatest number (I think)
that ever came out of their country at one time ; and I have
been informed by those that were well acquainted with the
affairs of Switzerland, that they scarce left any fighting men
behind them ; and those who did come, came for the most
part, in spite of our teeth, and their wives and children
would also have come along with them, had we not set
guards upon the passes in Piedmont on purpose to stop
them. It may be demanded whether this extraordinary
alacrity proceeded from any extraordinary affection ; for
King Louis XL had done them many good offices, and con-
tributed much to make them a reputation in the world. In-
deed there were some old soldiers who had a respect for the
memory of King Louis ; and some of their officers were
above seventy-two years old, and had been captains in the
wars against Charles Duke of Burgundy ; but the chief mo-
tives that induced them to leave their own country were
avarice and poverty. To speak truth, all their best men
came to us ; and such a number of brave fellows I had never
seen before together in my life ; and to me it seemed im-
possible to conquer them, unless by cold, famine, or some
other distress.
But to return to the principal point of our treaty. The
Duke of Orleans having lived eight or ten days at his ease
and pleasure, and being attended by all sorts of people, was
told that it had been stated, as some diminution to his honour,
that such a numerous garrison as he had in Novara should
have been reduced to such necessities; upon which he began
to talk of fighting again, and one or two that were about
him encouraged him to it. Monsieur de Ligny and the
Archbishop of Rouen were highly for his interest ; and some
mean persons bribed thirty of the Swiss to come of them-
selves and offer the enemy battle ; but without any reason,
»or the Duke of Orleans had only thirty men left in the
*■*(!«, and there was no further occasion to fight, for the
1495.] PEACE OF VERCELLI. 243
king pretended no quarrel of his own, but had come thither
only to rescue the duke and his friends ; besides the enemy
were very powerful, and it was impossible to attack them
in their camp; for besides the natural strength of the place,
they were strongly entrenched, all the ditches were full of
water, and there were no forces but ours to give them any
disturbance, as no sallies could be expected out of the town.
Their army consisted of two thousand eight hundred men-
at-arms barbed, five thousand light horse, and eleven thou-
sand five hundred Germans commanded by good officers
(as Signor George di Pietraplanta, Count Frederic Capellare,
and Monsieur Hans), besides a great number of foot ; so that
to talk of attacking them in their entrenchments, or beating
them so easily, was but a rhodomontade, and spoken in
flattery. Another great dread we had, and that was, lest
the Swiss should join in one body, and seize upon the king
and all the chief officers of his army (who were not able to
resist their power), and carry them into their own country ;
and of this there was some appearance, as you will see by
the conclusion of the peace.
Ch. XVIIT. — How Peace was concluded between the King and the
Duke of Orleans on the one Part, and the League on the other; and
of the Conditions and Articles contained in that Treaty of Peace. —
1495.
The debate about this affair grew at last so fierce amongst
us, that, in the heat of argument, the Duke of Orleans
gave the Prince of Orange the lie ; but at last, the Marshal
de Gie, the Lord de Piennes, the President Gannay, the
Lord de Morvilliers, the Vidame of Chartres*, and I, re-
turned to the enemy's camp, and concluded a peace f, though
by several indications we judged it unlikely to continue
long ; but we were under a necessity of doing it, both in re-
spect of the season of the year, our want of money, and that
* Jacques de Vendome, Prince of Chabanois, and Vidame of
Chartres.
f Dated at Vercelli, on the 10th of October, 1495.
u 3
246 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
we might come off honourably in the business ; to which
end the peace was concluded and engrossed, so that it might
be published throughout the world, which was done after-
wards by the king's express order in council, and in the pre-
sence of the Duke of Orleans. The substance of it was, that
the Duke of Milan should serve the king against all op-
posers ; that, at his own proper charge, the Duke of Milan
should fit out two ships for the relief of the castles of Naples,
which still held out for the king ; that the next year (in case
the king made a new invasion upon that kingdom), he should
furnish him with three ships, and assist him in person, and
give free passage to his troops; that in case the Venetians
did not accept the said peace within two months' time, but
continued to assist the House of Aragon, the duke should
then take part with the King of France against them, and
employ his person and interest in his service, upon condition
that whatever was taken from the enemy should be delivered
to the duke, for which terms he was to remit to the king
eighty thousand of the hundred and twenty-four thousand
ducats which he had lent him in his voyage to Naples ; that
with regard to Genoa, he should put two hostages into the
king's hands ; that Castelleto should be committed to the
Duke of Ferrara, as a neutral, for two years ; that the Duke
of Milan should pay one-half of the garrison of Castelleto,
and the king the other ; and that if it should happen that the
duke should at any time attempt to do any thing against the
king at Genoa, then the Duke of Ferrara was to deliver
Castelleto to the king. He was likewise to give two hostages
for Milan, which was performed ; and he would have done
as much for Genoa, had not the king been in such haste to
be gone ; but as soon as he went away, the duke made use
of shifts and evasions to excuse himself from doing it.
Immediately upon our return from swearing the Duke of
Milan to observe this peace, and bringing word that the Ve-
netians had taken two months to accept or refuse (for to
other terms we could not persuade them), the king swore
likewise to observe the peace ; and the next day he resolved
to begin his march, as both he and his whole army had a
great desire to return into France ; but that very night the
Swiss who were in our camp began to cabal, and hold pri-
vate consultations among the men of their several cantons,
1495. [ CABALS OF THE SWISS RECRUITS. 24*
beating their drums and standing to their arms (as their
manner is when they call any councils) ; and this I was in-
formed of by Monsieur de Lor nay, who was then (and had
been long before) one of their chief officers, and was well
acquainted with their language, and he gave the king intelli-
gence of it.
Some, proposed to seize upon the king, and all the chief
(that is to say, the rich) officers of the army ; others went
not so far, but moved that they should demand three months'
pay, on the score of an old promise made them by the late
king* that such a sum should be paid them whenever they
came out of their own country into his service with their
colours displayed. Others were for securing the chief mi-
nisters about the king, without meddling with his person ;
and this they designed to put in execution, having already
got a great number of their own troops into the town ; but
before they could come to an agreement among themselves,
the king had left for Trinot (which is a town belonging to
the Marquis of Montferrat). In this they were much in the
wrong, for there was never but one month's pay promised
them, and they had. done nothing for that. At length, this
troublesome affair was adjusted; but first, those Swiss who
were with us in the expedition to Naples, had seized upon
the Bailiff of Dijon and Monsieur de Lornay (who com-
manded them all along,), and pressed hard for a fortnight's
pay before they marched ; but the rest insisted upon pay for
three months, which in all amounted to five hundred thou-
sand francs, for the raising of which they took hostages ;
and to this they were animated by the French themselves,
who were averse to the peace ; and of this the Prince of
Orange was informed by one of their captains, and he im-
mediately informed the king of it.
The king, upon his arrival at Trino, sent the Marshal de
Gie, the President Gannay, and myself, to the Duke of Mi-
lan, to desire that he would come to him thither. We used
several arguments to persuade him, and told him it would be
a great confirmation of the peace ; but he gave as many to
the contrary, and excused himself upon a proposition which
* By a treaty made with them in 1474. — Lenglet, iii. 369.
f The king arrived at Triuo on Sunday, the 11th of October, 1495.
a 4
248 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
Monsieur de Ligny had formerly made to have him seized
upon, when he was with the king at Pavia, and upon certain
expressions which the Cardinal of St. Malo had used, who^
at that time, was the only minister who had influence with
the king. It is certain that several idle words had been
spoken by some about the court, but yet the king had a great
desire to cultivate a friendship with him. The Duke of
Milan was at a place called Bolia*, and consented to a con-
ference, provided it might be upon some river, with a bar-
rier between them.-!" As soon as the king had received his
answer, he removed to Quiers J, where he staid but a night
or two, and then marched away to cross the mountains,
having despatched me to Venice, and others to Genoa, to see
the ships equipped which the Duke of Milan was to lend
him ; but the duke put the king to great expense in pre-
parations, and at last would not let them go ; but instead of
keeping his promise, he sent two ships to the enemy.
Ch. XIX. — How the King sent the Lord of Argenton to Venice again,
to invite the Venetians to accept the Terms of Peace that were
offered, which the Venetians refused ; and of the Tricks and Jug-
glings of the Duke of Milan. — 1495.
The business of my embassy to Venice at this time was to
know whether they would accept the peace, and subscribe
to three articles. The first was to restore Monopoli, which
they had lately taken from us ; the second was to withdraw
the Marquis of Mantua and his forces out of the kingdom of
Kaples, and from the service of King Ferrand ; and the.
third was to declare that King Ferrand was not compre-
hended in their recent league, in which mention was made
only of the Pope, the King of the Romans, the King of Spain,
and the Duke of Milan. Upon my arrival at Venice they
* Bobhio, the chief town of the province of that name in the Sar-
dinian territories.
f Charles VIII. refused to consent to this proposition, regarding su«h
precautions as an insult to his honour. — Gdicciardini, i. 350.
X The king arrived at Chieri on Sunday, the ISth of October, 1495.
1495.] EMBASSY TO VENICE. 249
received me very honourably, but not quite in the same
manner as when I was there first, — for then we were at
peace, but now at war with each other. I delivered my
message to the Doge of Venice, who complimented me highly,
and told me I was very welcome; and that he would consult
with the Senate, and in a short time return me an answer.
For three days together they appointed solemn processions
to be made, public alms to be given, and sermons to be
preached all over the city, beseeching God of His grace tc
direct them in their consultations, which, as I was informed,
was no more than what they frequently do upon extraor-
dinary occasions. And truly, in religious affairs, and in the
beautifying and adorning their churches, it is a city of the
greatest reverence and decency that ever I saw; and in
these things I esteem them equal to the Romans, and I ques-
tion not but that their Signory derives much of its grandeur
from this fact, and it is worthy rather to be augmented than
lessened. But to the business of my embassy. I waited a
fortnight before I had an answer, and then it was a refusal
of all I had demanded. They told me they had no war with
the king, and that what they had done was only to assist
and support the Duke of Milan, who was their ally, and whom
the king had a desire to destroy ; yet they permitted their
Doge to talk with me alone, and he offered very advantageous
terms, which were, that King Ferrand should do homage to
our king for the kingdom of Naples, by the Pope's consent ;
that King Ferrand should pay our king a yearly tribute of
fifty thousand ducats, besides a sum of money down, which
they would lend (intending to have the towns of Brindisi,
Otranto, Trani, and others in Apulia, put into their hands
for security for the said loan) ; and that King Ferrand should
deliver up or leave the king in possession of some towns or
places in Apulia for his security (and they meant Tarento,
which our king has still in his hands*), and (if he pleased)
two or three more, which they offered should be on that
side, because it was farthest from them, though they pre-
tended it was for the convenience of his designs against the
Turk, of which our king had talked much at his first en-
trance into Italy, declaring he undertook that enterprise for
* Tarento surrendered to Frederic King of Naples, in 1496.
250 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495.
no other end but to be nearer and more ready to invade him;
but it was an evil invention, a mere fraud, and we cannot
conceal our thoughts from God. The Doge of Venice of-
fered besides, that if our king would attempt any thing
against the Turk, he should have free passage for his troops,
through all those places ; and all Italy should contribute :
the King of the Romans would make a diversion on his side ;
and the king, in conjunction with them, would be able to
govern all Italy, in such a manner as to compel any of the
princes as should refuse, to comply with their orders ; and
that for their part they would assist his majesty, at their
own charge, with a hundred galleys at sea, and five thousand
horse on land.
When I had my audience of leave, I told the Doge and
Signory I would report all faithfully to the king. 1 re-
turned by Milan, and found the Duke of Milan at Vige-
vano, and the king's ambassador with him, who was one
Rigault d'Oreilles*, steward to his household. The duke pre-
tended to go a hunting, and came out to meet me (for they
are very civil to ambassadors) and ordered me a very noble
apartment in his castle. I begged that I might have the
honour of a private conference with him, which at last he
promised me, but with some signs of reluctancy. As the
castle of Naples still held out for us, I was resolved to press
for the ships with which he was bound to furnish us by the
treaty at Vercelli. The ships were ready, and he was will-
ing in appearance to send them out, but Peron de Basche
and Stephen de Neves being at that time at Genoa on behalf
of our king, and understanding I was at Vigevano, wrote to
me immediately, complaining of the Duke of Milan's treacher-
ous way of dealing, who pretended to furnish us with ships
and had sent two against us ; that the governor of Genoa
had told them one day that he could not suffer the ships to
be manned with French sailors, and another, that there
could not be above five and twenty of them permitted to be
in any one vessel, with many such trifling excuses to pro-
tract and gain time, till they had heard the news of the cap-
* Rigault Poreille, Knight, Lord of Villeneuve, was steward in ordi-
nary to Louis XI. and Charles VIII. He was appointed Bailiff of
Chartres in 1496, and died on the 15th of September, 1517.
1495.] TREACHERY OF THE DUKE OF MILAN. 251
ture of the castle of Naples, in which the Duke of Milan
knew there was not provision enough for above a month,
and that the king's forces in Provence would be unable to
raise the siege without the assistance of those two ships, for
the enemy had blocked up the castle by sea with a great
fleet furnished by the Venetians and the King of Spain as
well as by themselves.
I was three days with the duke ; the first he spent most in
conference with me, and seemed to be angry that I was not
satisfied with his answer about the ships, to which he added
that though at the treaty of Vercelli he had promised to
serve, the king with two ships, yet he had never promised
that they should be manned with French. I replied, that in
my judgment that excuse was but weak and trifling, for if
he should lend me a good mule with which to pass the moun-
tains, what favour would it be if he should oblige me to lead
her by the hand ? I should only have liberty to see her, but
no advantage unless I had leave to mount her. After a
long conference he conducted me into a gallery apart, where
I took occasion to remonstrate the great pains which others
and myself had taken about the treaty of Vercelli ; and the
danger he would bring upon us by acting so contrary, and
causing the king to lose his castles in Naples, which would
be the total loss of the kingdom, and an occasion of per-
petual animosity between my master and him, and I offered
him the principality of Tarento, and the duchy of Bari,
which duchy was already his own. I represented to him
the danger he brought upon himself and all Italy by con-
senting that the Venetians should hold those places in
Apulia; and he confessed that what I had urged was true,
especially in relation to the Venetians, but told me plainly
at last he could repose no confidence in our king.
Alter this discourse I took my leave of the Duke of
Milan, who conducted me a league on my way home, and
even at my departure he invented a more cunning lie (if it
be decent to use such an expression towards a prince) than
any of his former falsehoods. Perceiving I was melancholy,
he told me on a sudden (as a man who had quite changed
his resolutions) that he would show himself my friend at
the last, and do that which should make me acceptable to my
master ; and he promised me that the next day he would
252 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1495
send the Lord Galeas (who was the fittest man for that pur-
pose) to see his ships at Genoa equipped and sent away to
join our fleet; that he would do the king that service so as
to save his castle, and by consequence the whole kingdom of
^Naples (and if he had performed his promise, this would have
been the result) ; and that when the ships had sailed he
would give me an account of it by a letter under his own
hand, that the king might have the first news of it from my-
self, and be sensible of the service which I had done him,
adding also that his letters should overtake me before I got
to Lyons. Big with these hopes I departed, and continued
my journey over the mountains. I knew the man, and durst
not be too confident; yet I never heard any courier behind
me, but I fancied he was bringing me those letters. I passed
on till I came to Chambery, where I found the Duke of
Savoy, who received me very graciously, and obliged me to
stay a whole day with him. From thence I proceeded to
Lyons (but no letters overtook me) to give the king an
account of my transactions ; for he was tliere at that time,
giving himself up wholly to feastings, jousts, and other gay
entertainments, without the least regard to anything else.
Those who had been enemies to the peace of Vercelli were
extremely pleased with the Duke of Milan's prevarication ;
and indeed they had reason, for their authority was increased
by it, and I was traduced, which in the like cases is an ordi-
nary thing in the courts of princes.
I was very melancholy and angry : I informed the king of
all I had done, and showed him in writing the offers which
the Venetians had made him ; but he seemed not to value
them much, and the Cardinal of St. Malo, who at that time
had the sole administration of affairs, valued them still less.
However, I pressed the king again, believing it better to
accept that offer than lose all ; for I saw nobody about him
fit to manage such an important affair, and those who were
most able were never consulted, or at least as seldom as pos-
sible. The king himself was inclinable enough to do it, but
loth to disphase those to whom he had committed his affairs,
especially those who managed his treasury, namely, the Car-
dinal, his brothers and relations. This is a fine example for
princes. It is necessary that they should take upon them-
selves the conduct of their own affairs, and not only call
1495." AFFAIRS OF NAPLES. 253
others to council upon occasion, but give them equal autho-
rity and countenance in certain matters ; for if any minister
of state be grown so great as to became terrible to the rest,
and to manage the whole aifairs of a kingdom according to
his own will and pleasure (of which sort King Charles VIII.
was never without one) that minister is king in reality, and
his master is ill served, as King Charles was always by his
ministers, who did their own business well enough, but
neglected his, to his great prejudice and dishonour.
Ch. XX. — How the King forgot those that were left behind at Naples,
upon his Return into France ; and of the Dauphin's Death, which
was a great Affliction to the King and Queen. — 1495.
I arrived at Lyons on the 12th of December, in the year
1495 ; and there I found the king and his whole army. The
king had been absent on his expedition about a year and two
months.* The castles of Naples still held out for him, as
you have heard. The Lord de Montpensier, his lieutenant
in that kingdom, was at Salerno with the prince of that
place ; the Lord d'Aubigny was in Calabria, where he had
done signal service, though under a long fit of sickness ; the
Lord Gracian des Guerres was in Abruzzo, Don Julian at
Mount St. Angelo, and George de Suilly at Tarento ; but all
of them most miserably poor, and so far abandoned by our
court that they could seldom or never receive letters or news
out of France, and when they did, it was nothing but shams
and promises without effect ; for (as I said before) the king
did nothing of himself. If they had been supplied with
money in time, even a sixth part of what was spent after-
wards to no purpose would have saved that kingdom from
being lost ; for at length when all was lost, they sent them
forty thousand crowns as part of a year's pay, and yet if
that had arrived but a month sooner, the calamities and dis-
graces which they endured had never befallen them, and
* The king started from Grenoble on the 13th of August, 1494, and
arrived in that town on his return, ou the 27 th of October, 1495.
254 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMM1NES. [1495.
their divisions had been prevented ; all which was occa-
sioned through the negligence of the king, who managed
nothing himself, and would not so much as hear anybody
that came from them, and those whom he employed were
careless and inexperienced, and I think some of them held a
correspondence with the Pope ; so that in appearance God
had forsaken our king, and taken away that grace with
which He had hitherto conducted him.
The king had not been at Lyons above two months, or
thereabouts, when he received news that his only son, the
dauphin, lay dangerously ill; and three days after, letters
came that gave an account of his death.* The king was
extremely concerned at first, as he ought to have been out
of paternal affection ; yet his sorrow soon wore off. But
the queen (who was Anne, Duchess of Bretagne) took it
more to heart than perhaps any other woman would have
done, and her sorrow remained longer upon her ; and I am
afraid, that besides the natural affliction of mothers upon
the loss of their children, her mind misgave her, and she
was apprehensive that some greater misfortune would soon
happen to her. The king (as I said before) having got over
his own grief, had a great desire to give the queen some
diversion at a ball of young gentlemen, which the king had
appointed ; among the rest of the dancers, the Duke of
Orleans was one, who was at that time about thirty-four
years oldf ; but he behaved himself so, that it was visible
to all the court he rejoiced at the dauphin's death, for he
was (after him) next heir to the crown. Wherefore the king
and he never spoke to one another for a long time after.
The dauphin was about three years old when he died, yet
a very handsome and precocious child, and not alarmed at
those things wherewith children are usually frighted ; for
which reason his father was the sooner recovered from his
sorrow, as being fearful already lest he should have grown
too fast, and lest, if his courage increased with his years,
he would have entrenched upon his father's power and
authority ; for the king was not commanding either in
person or understanding, but of the mildest and best dispo-
sition in the world. By this example we may see to what
* He died on the 6th of December, 1495.
f He was bora on the 27th of June, 14G2.
1495.] ON THE SORROWS OP PRINCES. 255
miseries great kings and princes, who grow jealous of their
own children, are subject. His father, Louis XI, though
so wise and virtuous a prince, was yet fearful of Charles
VIIL, but he provided prudently against the worst, and
left him the crown when he was but fourteen years old.
Louis XI. had been no less terrible to his father Charles
VIL, for at the age of thirteen years he was in arms, and
confederated against him with certain of the nobility, upon
some court-quarrels* and complaints against the govern-
ment, (and this King Louis has often told me himself,) yet
these troubles lasted not long. But when he came to man's
estate, he had great controversy with his father Charles VIL,
retired into Dauphiny, and from thence into Flanders, leav-
ing Dauphiny to his father,. as has been observed at the
beginning of these Memoirs j, in relating the reign of
Louis XL
No creature is exempt from adversity ; every man eats his
bread in pain and sorrow : God Almighty promised it to
our first parents, and he has performed it very faithfully
ever since to all people. Yet there are degrees and distinc-
tions of sorrow, and the troubles and vexations of the mind
are greater than those of the body ; the anxiety of the wise
is of one sort, and that of the fool of another, but that of
the fool is the greater of the two (though some are of a
contrary opinion) because he is less capable of comfort.
The poor people, who labour, drudge and toil to maintain
themselves and their children, and pay their taxes and sub-
sidies to their princes, would have but little comfort in this
world if princes and great lords were sensible of nothing
but pleasure, and they of nothing but sorrow and misery*
But the thing is quite otherwise; for, should I endeavour to
give an account of the sufferings and disorders which (for
these thirty years) I have seen endured by persons of quality
of both sexes, it would swell to a large volume. I do not
mean such persons as Boccace mentions in his bookj, but
such as raise the envy of all people, by their riches, health,
* The Pragaerie. See Book VI. chap. 12.
f See Book I. chap. 10.
I The reference is here to Boccaccio's treatise, "De Casibus virorum
et fcemmarum illustrium," of which two French translations existed at
the time when Commines wrote.
256 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMM1NES. [1495.
and prosperity. Those who have not conversed with them
so much as I have done, believe the condition of great per-
sons to be the happiest in the world ; but I have seen their
troubles and disquiets, aroused upon such trifling occasions,
as persons at a distance could hardly believe ; an idle ap-
prehension or an extravagant report disturbs them ex-
tremely ; and this is the secret distemper that reigns in the
courts of great princes, from whence many mischiefs arise
to the sovereign, his ministers and subjects ; and it is so
great a shortener of life, that there is scarce a king of France
(since the time of Charlemagne) who lived to be sixty years
old.
Upon this bare suspicion, when Louis XL came to be
about that age, being sick of that disease, he concluded him-
self already dead. His father Charles VII., who had done
so many memorable things in France, took a fancy that his
courtiers had a design to poison him, and upon that account
he ate nothing. Charles VI. had his jealousies too, and
became crazed in his understanding upon a mere report.
Certainly, princes are guilty of great error in not examining,
or causing other people to examine, such tales as concern
them, though, perhaps, they may be of themselves of no
great importance; but this would keep them from being so
frequently current, especially if they confronted the accused
with the informer ; by that means nothing would be reported
but what was true. But there are some princes so stupid sis
to promise and swear to the accusers they will never discover
them ; and these are they who are subject to those anguishes
and torments of mind of which I speak and who many times
hate and injure the best ministers they have, upon the bare
reports and calumnies of evil-minded and designing people,
by which means they occasion great mischiefs and sorrows
to their subjects.
H96.] LOSS OF THE CASTLE OF NAPLES. 257
Ch. XXI. — How the King received News of the Loss of the Castle of
Naples; of the selling of the Towns belonging to the Florentines to
several Persons ; of the Treaty of Atella in Apulia, much to the
Prejudice of the French; and of the Death of Ferrand, King of
Naples.— M9C.
The death of the Dauphin (only son to Charles VIII. ),
occurred about the beginning of the year 1496, and was
the greatest loss that happened or could possibly happen to
the king, for he had never any child afterwards that lived.
But this misfortune came not alone ; for at the same time
he received advice that the castle of Naples had been sur-
rendered by those whom the Lord de Montpensier had left
in it, under pressure of famine, and for the safety of the
hostages, who had been delivered into the enemy's hands by
the Lord de Montpensier. The names of the hostages were
Monsieur d'Alegre, one of the sons of the Lord de la Marche
d'Ardaine, one called the Lord de la Chapelle de Loudon-
nois, and John Roquebertin, a Catalonian.* Those who
had been in the castle were sent back again by sea. After
this, another disgraceful accident befel him, and that was,
that one Entragues, who was governor of the citadel of Pisa
(which was strong, and commanded the whole town), deli-
vered it up to the Pisans ; which was contrary to the king's
oath, for he had sworn twice to the Florentines to deliver
the said citadel to them, and other places, as Sarzana, Sar-
zanello, Pietrasanta, Librefatto, and Mortron, which the
Florentines had lent the king in his necessities, at his first
coming into Italy, and had given him six score thousand
ducats, of which there were not above thirty thousand in
arrear when he returned into France, as has been men-
tioned in another place. f In short, all these places were
sold ; the Genoese bought Sarzana and S.irzanello, and they
were sold by the Dastard of St. Paul. J Monsieur Entragues
* See Book VIII. Chap. 15.
f See Book VII. Chap. 11.
^ The Bastard of Roussi, one of the lieutenants of the Lord d'En-
tragues, sold Sarzana to the Lur :ese for 30,000 florins. — SinuoMOI,
xii. 379.
VOL. U. S
258 THE MEMOIRS OP PHILIP DE COMMINES. ("1496.
sold Pietrasanta to the citizens of Lucca*, and Libre-
fatto to the Venetians, to the great dishonour of the king
and his subjects, and to the detriment and I may say de-
struction of the kingdom of Naples. The first oath King
Charles VIII. took for the restitution of those places was at
Florence, upon the high altar in the great church of St.
John ; the second was at Asti, on his return, where the
Florentines furnished him in his extremity with thirty
thousand ducats, upon condition that if Pisa were surren-
dered to them, the king should be discharged of the said
sum, and all his jewels and pawns should be restored ; and
they were to lend him threescore thousand more, to be paid
down in the kingdom of Naples, to those whom his majesty
had appointed to manage his affairs there, and to maintain
at their charge three hundred horse for the service of our
king in the kingdom of Naples, which were to continue
there during the whole expedition ; but upon the selling of
Pisa and the rest of the towns all was at an end, and the
king was obliged to repay the thirty thousand ducats which
the Florentines had lent him, and all this by the dis-
obedience and whisperings of some persons about the king,
who had given private encouragement to Entragues to act
thus in the business.
About the same time, in the beginning of the year 1496,
the Lord de Montpensier, the Lord Virgil Ursini, Signer
Camillo Vitelli, and the rest of the French officers, seeing
that all was lost, took the field, and made themselves masters
of several small towns ; upon which King Ferrand, the son
of Alphonso (who was turned monk, as you have heard
before), with the Marquis of Mantua, brother to the Lord
Montpensier's wifef, and captain-general of the Venetians,
drew out against them, and found the Lord de Montpensier
in a town called Atella, situated very disadvantageously for
the supply of provisions. The enemy immediately encamped
on a hill, and fortified themselves as strongly as they could,
not daring to venture a battle, for King Ferrand and the
Marquis of Mantua had been beaten by us in every engage-
ment they had fought. The Venetians had in pledge six
* For twenty four thousand florins. — Sismondi, xii. 379.
f Clara dc Gouzuga.
1496.] MT7TINT OF THE FRENCH TROOPS AT ATELLA. 259
towns* in Apulia, of very great importance, namely, Brin-
disi, Trani, Gallipoli, Crana, Otranto, Monopoli, and Ta-
rento, which last they had taken from us. And they lent some
money to King Ferrand, but they valued the service of their
forces in that kingdom so high, that it was computed and
charged upon the said towns at two hundred and fifty
thousand ducats, besides what they demanded for the forti-
fications and other expenses in keeping them ; so that I am
persuaded they have no intention to restore themf; for it
is not their custom to part with anything that is for their
convenience, as those towns are, lying all upon the Gulf of
Venice, and making them absolute lords of it. from Venice
to Otranto, which is nine hundred miles complete. The
Pope, indeed, has Ancona and some few other towns between
them ; but all must pay duties to the Venetians, or there is
no passing through the Gulf; so that it was a great ad-
vantage to them to have those towns in their hands, and
perhaps more than many people imagine, for they receive
from them great quantities of corn and oil, which are two
commodities very beneficial and necessary for them.
At the town of Atellaf above-mentioned, our troops
began to mutiny, not only for provisions (which were he-
ginning to fail), but for their pay, for there was already an
arrear due to them for above eighteen months, and they had
suffered very great hardships. The Swiss, too, were largely
in arrear, but not altogether so much, for all the money the
Lord de Montpensier could raise in that kingdom went to
the payment of them, and yet they had above a year due to
them. They had, however, plundered several little villages,
and got a considerable booty. If the forty thousand ducats
which had been so often promised had been sent in time, or
had they known they would receive them at Florence, this
mutiny had never happened ; but now all that was done
* The Venetians were forced to surrender all these towns to Ferdi-
nand the Catholic in 1509, after the bloody battle of Agradel, which
utterly broke their power.
■J- Atella, a town of the kingdom of Naples, lies intrenched among
the Apennines, on the western border of the Basilieate. It is situated in
a broad valley encompassed by a lofty amphitheatre of hill , through
which flows a little river, tributary to the Qfanto, and watering the
town.
8 2
260 THE MKMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [ 496.
proceeded merely from despair. Several of the commanders
have told me since, that if our men would have agreed to
have ventured a battle, in all likelihood the victory would
been theirs, or if they had lost it, it could not have been
with the destruction of half so many as they lost by their
base and dishonourable surrender. The Lords de Mont-
pensier and Virgil Ursini would willingly have fought, and
they died in prison, and not one of the articles of their
treaty was observed to them. These two gentlemen accused
the Lord de Percy (a young gentleman of Auvergne), of
having been the occasion of their not fighting ; and the
truth is, the Lord de Percy was an ill-conditioned and
mutinous knight.
There were two sorts of Germans in that army* ; one
was the Swiss, of whom we had about one thousand five
hundred, who had been with us from the beginning of our
expedition, and they served us faithfully and as well as men
could do to the very last. There was another commonly
called Lansquenets, which is as much as to say, Companions
of the Country, and these have a natural antipathy to the
Swiss ; they are a collection from all the countries upon the
Rhine, Swabia, the Pays de Vaux in Sequania, and Guelder-
land ; and they consisted of about seven or eight hundred
men lately sent thither, with two months' pay in advance,
which was spent by them before they arrived. Seeing
themselves in such danger and distress, they retained not
that affection to us which the Swiss did, but began to hold
parleys, and by degrees revolted to the enemy ; upon which
and the division among our commanders, the soldiers made
a villanous and infamous agreement, which King Ferrand
swore to observe ; for the Marquis of Mantua took great
care to secure the person of the Lord de Montpensier, his
brother-in-law.
By the said agreement they delivered themselves into the
hands of their enemies, gave them all the artillery which be-
* Du Bos similarly discriminates between the character of the German
Landsknechts and the Swiss. He s-ays: " The Lansquenets were, gone-
rally speaking, much better made men, and much better looking in their
armour, than the Swiss infantry; but they were incapable of discipline.
Unlike the Swiss, they paid no obedience to their commanders, and had
no friendship for their comrades." — Ligue de Cambrat, vol. L p. 66.
1496.] CALITULATION AT AT ELLA. 261
longed to our king, and promised to restore nil the places
which our king possessed in that kingdom, as well in Cala-
bria, where the Lord d'Aubigny commanded, as in Abruzzo,
where the Lord Gracian des Gruerres was chief; besides
Gaeta and Tarento. Upon which terms King Ferrand
undertook to send them into Provence by sea, and their
bag&rage with them, which was worth little or nothing.*
They were about five or six thousand men, and King b er-
rand caused them to be conducted to Naples. So ignomi-
nious an agreement had not been made before in our times,
nor did I ever read of any like it, unless it was that which
(as Titus Livius reports f) was made by the two Roman
consuls with the Samnites (who are nowr supposed to be the
inhabitants of Beneventum) at a certain place upon the
mountains, which was then called the Caudine Forks ; but
the Romans refused to ratify and confirm' it, and sent the
two consuls back prisoners to the enemy.
If our army had fought and been defeated, we had not lost
bo great a number of men as we did, for two-thirds of them
died of famine and plague on ship-board, and in the Isle of
Procida, whither they were sent afterwards by King Ferrand ;
among the rest, the Lord de Montpensier died there, some
say of poison, others of a fever, (which I rather believe).
And I think of their whole number there came not above
one thousand five hundred back; for of the Swiss, who
were one thousand three hundred, there returned not above
three hundred and fifty, and those in a weak and miserable
* The capitulation was signed at Atella on the 21st of July, 1496.
The terms were soon arranged with the King of Naples, who had no
desire but to rid his country of the invaders. It was agreed that if the
French commander did not receive assistance in thirty days, he should
evacuate Atella, and cause every place holding under him in the kingdom
of Naples, with all its artillery, to be surrendered to King Ferdinand,
and that, on these conditions, his soldiers should be furnished with ves-
sels to transport them back to France; that the foreign mercenaries
should be permitted to return to their own homes; and that a general
amnesty should be extended to such Neapolitans as returned to their
allegiance in fifteen days. The reproach which Commines casts on
the authors of this treaty is certainly unmerited, and comes with an ill
grace from a court which was wasting in riotous indulgence the very
resources indispensable to the brave and loyal subjects who were eudea-
Tourmg to maintain its honour in a foreign laud.
•{■ iu the eleventh book of his history.
t 8
262 THE MlCMOIfcS OF PIIIMP DE COMMINES. [1496.
condition. These Swiss were highly to be commended for
their loyalty ; for they would never bear arms under King
Ferrand, but chose rather to die, as many of them did in
the island of Procida, some of a calenture, some of other
diseases, and some of very hunger ; for it is not to be
imagined in what want of food they were kept on ship-board,
and how loner. I saw some of those who returned, and
particularly the Swiss, who brought back all their colours ;
but by their looks one might see what they had suffered ;
for all of them were so very sick, that when they came
ashore to take a little air, they could not walk without being
supported. The Lord Virgil Ursini by his articles was to
have had liberty to return into his own country with his
son*, and his whole regiment; but they detained him, and
his lawful son with him (of which sort he had but one);
yet he had a bastard who was a brave man, called Signor
Carlo f ; but he was killed by certain Italians who were in
his company upon the road. Had this misfortune fallen
upon any but those who had a hand in the treaty, it had been
a very deplorable accident 4
* Gian Giordano Orsini, Lord of Bracciano.
t Carlo Orsini, Count of Anguillara.
X The misfortune? of the French, after the surrender of Atella, are
thus described by Mr. Prescott: "Unfortunately Montpensier was un-
able to enforce the full performance of his own treaty: as many of the
French refused to deliver up the places entrusted to them, under the
pretence that their authority was derived not from the viceroy but from
the king himself. During the discussion of this point, the French troops
were removed to Baiae and Pozzuolo and the adjacent places on the coast.
The unhealthiness of the situation, together with that of the autumnal
season and an intemperate indulgence in fruit and wine, soon brought
on an epidemic among the soldiers, which swept them off in great num-
bers. The gallant Montpensier was one of the first victims. He refused
the earnest solicitations of his brother-in-law, the Marquis of Mantua, to
quit his unfortunate companions, and retire to a place of safety in the
interior. The shore was literally strewed with the bodies of the dying
and the dead. Of the whole number of Frenchmen, amounting to not
less than five thousand, who marched out of Atella, not more than five
hundred ever reached their native country. The Swiss and other mer-
cenaries were scarcely more fortunate. ' They made their way back as
they could, through Italy,' says Giovio, ' in the most deplorable state
of destitution and suffering; the gaze of all, and a sad example of the
caprice of fortune.' Such was the miserable fate of that brilliant and
formidable army which, scarcely two years before, had poured uowu
1496.J DEATH O* KINO FERDINAND. 263
Not long after King Ferrand had gained this honour, and
newly married the daughter of his grandfather King
Ferrand, whom he had by the present King of Castile's
sister (so that his queen was sister to his own father King
Alphonso), and who was a young lady not above thirteen or
fourteen years old, he fell into a hectic fever, and died in a
few days.* He left the possession of his kingdom to King
Frederic (now reigning) who was his uncle. I cannot think
of this marriage without horror, though there were several
of the same nature in that family within the memory of
man, and that within the space of thirty years. He died
not long after that infamous treaty of Atella in the year
1496. King Ferrand, when he was living, and Frederic
since his accession to the throne, excused themselves, be-
cause the Lord de Montpensier had not surrendered the
towns that were mentioned in the articles of agreement ;
but it was not in his power, for Gaeta and other places
were not in his hands; and indeed though he was our king's
lieutenant in that kingdom, yet the governors of the re-
spective towns were not bound to surrender them at his
command, though if they had, our king had been no great
loser by the bargain ; for they afterwards cost a great deal
to repair and victual : and so they were lost at last. I was
present myself when provisions were sent, once to the casties
of Naples, and thrice to Gaeta ; and I think I should not mis-
take if I said those four supplies cost the king above three
hundred thousand francs ; and yet all came to nothing.
on the fair fields of Italy in all the insolence of expected conqjest." — >
History of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. ii. p. 300
* Ferdinand died on the 7th of September, 1496, in the twenty-eighth
year of his age, and second of his reign. He was the fifth monarch
•who, in the brici compass of three yeats, had sat on the disastrous thxona
of Naples.
264 THE MEMOIRS OF PIIILIP DE COMMLNF.fl. [1496.
Ch XXII. — How several Plots were formed (in favour of our King) by
some of the Italian Princes, not only for the Recovery of Naples, but
for the Destruction of the Duke of Milan; how they miscarried for
want of Supplies; and how another Design against Genoa came to
tl.e same ill End. — 1496.
The king, after his return from his expedition to Naples,
as we have already mentioned, continued a long time at
Lyons, entertaining himself with jousts and tournaments;
and though still desirous to regain the places he had lost in
the kingdom of Naples, whatever it cost him, he would take
no pains to manage his own affairs. He had very good
intelligence in Italy, and great designs were set on foot in
his favour; which could easily have been managed by the
kingdom of France, which is very populous, and plentiful in
corn, especially in Languedoc and Provence, and other coun-
tries, out of which it is no difficult task to raise money.
But if any other prince besides the King of France should
embrace the cause of the Italians, and undertake their as-
sistance, it would impoverish and exhaust him to no purpose;
for they will do nothing without money ; nor, indeed, are
they able to do anything, unless it be the Duke of Milan, or
some of the great States. But a private governor or general,
how well affected soever he may be to the House of France,
and its pretensions to the kingdom cf Naples, or the duchy
of Milan, let him be as devoted as he will to its interest
(and from Italians you must expect nothing more than
partisanship), yet he cannot serve that house long after the
pay begins to fail ; for the poor general would be deserted
by his own soldiers, and would himself be utterly undone ;
because for the most part they have nothing wherewith to
raise men, but their reputation and credit ; and the soldiers
are paid by the general, and the general by him who employs
him in his service.
But as to the designs which I have mentioned as being so
considerable, they began before the surrender of Gaeta, upon
the Duke of Milan's not keeping his promise, and continued
for two years after our king's return. As for the Duke of
.Milan, he did not break his promise so much out of malice
1496. j FRENCH INTRIGUES IN ITALY. 265
and deceit, as through fear; for he was fearful that the king
could not have so great an addition to his power, without
some diminution of his own ; besides, he did not think our
king a prince of any firmness or resolution. At length it
was concluded that the Duke of Orleans should march to
Asti with a considerable body of forces; and I saw him and
his troops ready to set out. We were secure of the Duke
of Ferrara with five hundred men-at-arms and two thousand
foot (though he was the Duke of Milan's father-in-law);
for he joined with us to preserve himself against the danger
he was in between the Duke and the Venetians, who not
long previously (as I have said before*) had taken from
him the the Polesan, and endeavoured all they could to ruin
him : upon which account he preferred his own and his
children's safety before the friendship of his son-in-law ;
and perhaps he was of opinion that his son-in-law would, by
his mediation, come to some agreement with the king, when
he found himself in danger. We had also engaged the
Marquis of Mantua on our side, who had been, and was at
that time general for the Venetians ; but they were so
jealous of him, and he so dissatisfied with them, that he re-
mained with three hundred men-at-arms with his father-in-
law the Duke of Ferrara, for his wife was sister to the
Duchess of Milan, and the Duke of Ferrara's daughter.
Signor John Hentivoglio (who was governor, and as it were
Prince of Bologna,) was to have provided a hundred and
fifty men-at-arms, besides the horse and foot which his two
sons were to have brought with them, and his country was
well situated for an attack on the Duke of Milan. The
Florentines, who saw they were utterly undone, and were
afraid they should be dispossessed of Pisa and the rest of
their towns, unless they exerted themselves, and did some-
thing extraordinary in this critical juncture of affairs, agreed
to assist us with eight hundred men-at-arms, and five thou-
sand foot, and to maintain them at their own expense ; and
they had six months' pay ready in bank. The Ursini and
the Prefect of Romef (who was brother to the Cardinal of
St. Peter ad Vincula, so often mentioned before), who were
* Sec Book VI r. Chap 3.
f Giovauni dclla Bovere, Duke of Sora. See Book V1L C naj*. It.
266 THE MEMOIRS OF PHIUP DE COMMINES. [1496.
in the king's pay, would have brought a thousand men-at-
arms, but you must know the retinue and equipage of their
men-at-arms is not so great as ours ; for they have no
archers, but their pay is alike ; for the pay of a man-at-arms
(if he is well paid) is one hundred ducats a year, but if he
be attended by archers it is double. These soldiers the king
would have paid, but tlie Florentines were to have paid their
own forces. The Duke of Ferrara, the Marquis of Mantua,
and Signor Bentivoglio desired only their expenses ; for they
expected their reward out of the towns which they should
take from the Duke of Milan, had he been suddenly invaded
by the Duke of Orleans' forces. And of those who were hi3
confederates, none would have been able to avoid siding
with the king against the Venetians ; and for less than
eighty thousand crowns the king could have kept all these
Italians together a long time; and if the Duke of Milan had
been conquered, the kingdom of Naples would have fallen of
course.
The miscarriage of this important design proceeded
merely from the Duke of Orleans' inconstancy. He in-
tended over-night to set out in the morning ; he had sent
all his equipage, baggage, and whatever else belonged to big
person, before him ; so that there was nothing to follow but
himself. His army, consisting of eight hundred French
men-at-arms and six thousand foot (among whom were
four hundred Swiss), lay ready at Asti, and their pay iiv
advance in their pockets ; yet on a sudden he changed his
mind, and made two several requests to the king, that the
expedition might be once more debated before the council ;
and it was done twice. I was present on both occasions :
the result was, nemine contradicente (though there were
always ten or twelve in council), that he should proceed on
the expedition ; because they had given their above-men-
tioned friends in Italy repeated assurances of his coming ;
and they had raised men, and been at great expense in ex-
pectation of him. But the Duke of Orleans (either by the
advice of some other person, or through his own unwilling-
ness to go, on account of the king's illness, and his being the
next heir to the crown,) plainly declared he would not under-
take that enterprise upon any quarrel of his own ; but as he
was the king's lieutenant, if his majesty pleased to command
1496.] DESIGNS ON GENOA. 267
it, he would go with all his heart ; and so the council broke
up. The next day, and several days after, the Florentine
envoys, and the rest of the ambassadors, pressed the king,
that he would command the duke to go ; but the king's
answer was, that he would never send him to make war
against his inclinations. And thus was that enterprise
quashed in a moment, to theking's great displeasure, who had
been at vast charges, and had great hopes of revenging him-
self on the Duke of Milan, considering his own alliances at
that time, and what he might have had by Signor John
James de Trivulce, who was lieutenant-general for the king;
and that the Duke of Orleans was born, and had great in-
terest and alliance in the duchy of Milan, where many persons
would have supported him.
But though this design miscarried, another revived, nay
two or three at a time, in Genoa, which is a place ever
prone to revolutions. One was contrived by Signor Bap-
tista di Campoforgoso*, a great leader of faction in Genoa;
but he was banished, and his party could do nothing; nor
could the family of Doria, who were gentlemen, but the
Campoforgosi were not. The Dorias are of the same party
with the Campoforgosi, but cannot be Doges themselves,
because they are gentlemen ; for no gentleman is capable of
being Doge by their laws. But this Baptista had been
Doge not long before, but was supplanted by his uncle the
Cardinal of Genoa, who put the government into the hands
of the Duke of Milan, under whom the city was governed
by the Adorni, who also are not gentlemen ; yet they have
been often Doges, and are supported by the house of the
Spinoli, who are gentlemen. The nobility in Genoa make
Doges, but cannot be made so themselves. This Signor
Baptista expected his whole party (both in the city and
country) would take arms in his favour, and that the king
would obtain the sovereignty, but the government would
fall into the hands of himself and his party ; and they did
not question but to drive out the rest.
* Baptista Fregosi was raised to the dignity of Doge of Genoa in
1478. Under the pretext that he was plotting the subjection of Genoa
to the Emperor, his uncle, Cardinal Frcgosi, in concert with Lazaro
Doria, arrested him, and procured his banishment, in 1483. — Sismomdi,
Xi. 287.
268 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [HOG.
The other design was set on foot by several persons in
Savona, who addressed themselves to the Cardinal of St.
Peter ad Vincula, assuring him they would deliver up the
town, provided their liberties and privileges might be se-
cured to them ; for they were then under the jurisdiction of
Genoa, and paid heavy duties. If he could have made him-
self master of this town, he would have reduced Genoa to
great straits, considering Provence was our king's own
country, and Savoy at his command. Upon this news, the
king sent to Signor John James di Trivulce to assist the
said Baptista di Campoforgoso with such supplies as might
carry him to the very walls of Genoa, to see whether his
party would rise. On the other side he was pressed hard
by the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula, who also obtained
a letter to Trivulce from the king, commanding him to
furnish the Cardinal with men enough to conduct him to
Savona ; and he received the same message by word of
mouth from the Lord of Sernon in Provence, who was the
Cardinal's friend, and a bold talker. The kinc also sent
orders to Signor James di Trivulce to contrive matters so
as to support both parties, and yet do nothing against the
Duke of Milan, or contrary to the peace that had been made
with him the year before; but these orders were downright
contradictions.
And after this manner the affairs of great princes are
managed, when they are not present themselves, or are too
hasty in commanding letters and messengers to be de-
spatched, without mature and requisite deliberation. In
this case, if one considers what was required by Signor
Baptista di Campoforgoso and the Cardinal, we shall find
that it was impossible to supply them both at a time. For
to approach the walls of Genoa without a considerable body
of forces, was ridiculous and impracticable, by reason of the
numbers and courage of the inhabitants ; and to have sup-
plied the Cardinal had been to have divided his own army
into three bodies, for part must of necessity have remained
with Signor John James ; and, besides, the alarm was taken,
and the Duke of Milan, the Venetians, Don Frederic, and
the Pope, had all of them sent forces to Genoa and Savona,
Suspecting their intended revolt.
Besides these two, Signor John James Trivulce had &
1496. J FAILURE OF THKSE INTRIGUES. 269
third design of his own, and that was, to march directly
with all his forces against the Duke of Milan, and lay those
other enterprises aside ; and certainly if he had been per-
mitted to pursue his own scheme, he would have performed
some sreat action ; for, under pretence that he could not
otherwise protect such as were engaged in the designs upon
Genoa and Savona, he posted himself upon the high road
from Alessandria to Genoa (and indeed the Duke of Milan
could send forces no other way to molest us), and possessed
himself of two or three small towns, without any resistance,
pretending that this was no violation of the peace with the
duke, for he was forced to it of necessity ; and that the king
could not be said to have made war upon the duke by en-
deavouring to recover Genoa and Savona, because they held
of the king, and had forfeited their allegiance. However, to
satisfy the Cardinal, Signor John James di Trivulce sent
part of his army to Savona ; but he found the garrison rein-
forced and his designs defeated, and so he marched back.
He sent other troops to Signor Baptista, to attempt some-
thing upon Genoa, and great matters were expected from
thence; but before they had marched four leagues, both
the French and Swiss who were in his company grew sus-
picious of him (though I think it was wrongfully), and it
was well things happened so ; for their number being very
inconsiderable, they would have exposed themselves to great
danger if their party in the town had not risen. Thus all
these enterprises and designs miscarried, and the Duke of
Milan became strong; but he had run great danger if
Signor John James had not been countermanded. Our
army marched back, our foot were disbanded, the small
towns restored, and the war was concluded, but with little
advantage to the king, considering what expense he had
been at in military preparations.
Ch. XXTII.— Of certain Differences that arose between Charles King
of France, and Ferrand King of Castile; and the Ambassadors who
were sent by both of them to accommodate the Art'air. — 1497.
From the beginning of 1496, when the king had already
been ftur months on this side of the mountains, till tha
27C THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1497.
year 1498, our forces lay still, and did nothing in Italy: I
was present all that while with his majesty, and privy to
most of his affairs. He went from Lyons to Moulins, and
from Moulins to Tours, spending his time in nothing but
jousts and tournaments wherever he came, without ever
thinking of other affairs. Those who were in greatest repu-
tation with him, were in great dissension among themselves,
and it could hardly be greater. Some (as the Cardinal and
seneschal) were for carrying on the war in Italy, because it
was for their profit and advantage; the admiral* on the
other side (who before that expedition had been the king's
greatest favourite), opposed it in hopes to be restored to his
former authority and to supplant his competitors; and in
this posture things stood about a year and a half.
In the meantime our king sent ambassadors to the King
and Queen of Castile, for his majesty desired to be at peace
with them, because they were very powerful both at sea and
land ; and though at land they had done no extraordinary
exploits, yet by sea they had given Kings Ferrand and Fre-
deric very considerable assistance ; for the island of Sicily
is distant from Rhegio in Calabria only a league and a halt".
Some are of opinion it was formerly joined to the continent |,
and in process of time separated from it by the sea. The
opening is now os"'ed the Straits of Messina. From this
island of Sicily, which belonged to the King and Queen of
Castile, large supplies were sent to Naples, as well in caravels
from Spain, as in men from the island, out of which several
men-at-arms passed the sea into Calabria, with a good
number of Spanish Genetaires, and made war against those
* Louis Malet. See Book VII. Chap. 1.
f Virgil was of this opinion, as appears by the following lines : —
" Ast, ubi digressum Siculae te admoverit oraa
Ventus, et angusti rarescent lustra pelori;
Laeva tibi tellus, et longo laeva_ petantur
^Equora circuitu: dextrum fuge littus et unda*
Hsec loca, vi quondam et vasta convulsa ruina
(Tantum a?vi longinqua valet mutare vetustas)
l)issiluisse ferunt: cum protinus utraque tellus
Una foret, venit medio vi pontus, et undis
Hesperium Siculo latus abscidit: arvaque et urbes
Lktore didujtas, angusto interluit ajstu."
Vikg. JEneid. 111. 410 — 419.
1497.] SPANISH DEFEATS IN BOUSSILLON. 271
who appeared for our king. Their fleet was continually
joined with the confederates, and when they were united,
our king was too weak to meet them at sea ; otherwise the
King of Castile had not done him much mischief. It is true
a good body of his horse made an inroad into Languedoc,
plundered some few towns, and quartered up and down that
country for three or four days ; but that was all, and no con-
siderable damage done. Monsieur de St. Andre* (of Bour-
bonnois) being then upon the frontier with some troops
belonging to the Duke of Bourbon, who was governor of
Languedoc, attempted to take Saussesf, a small town in Rous-
sillon, from whence the enemy made all his incursions ; for
the king had restored the said Roussillon to them about two
years before, in which province there is the territory of Per-
pignan, and this Sausses is in the middle of it. The design
was great, because the town was strongly garrisoned with a
detachment of the King of Castile's own guards, and within
a league lay their whole army, which was more numerous
than ours, and ready to engage us. However, Monsieur de
St. Andre managed his affairs so prudently, and with so
much secrecy, that in ten hours' time he took the town
(which I have seen) by assault J, and in it there were thirty
or forty Spanish gentlemen of good quality slain, and among
them the son of the Archbishop of St. James's §, hesides
three or four hundred more. They did not suppose we
should have been masters of it so soon, because they knew
not the goodness of our cannon, which certainly are the
finest and best in Europe.
No other but this action happened between these two
kings, and this was much to the dishonour of the King of
Castile, who had such a numerous army in the field. But
when God Almighty is pleased to chastise a nation for its
* Guichard d'Albon, Lord of Saint- Andre and Oulches, was lieu-
tenant-general for the king in Languedoc in the year 1496, and became
Bailiff of Montferrand in 1498.
f Salces, a village in the department of the Pyrenees Orientales, and
formerly the key of Roussillon. The strong castle of Salces was gar-
risoned by the Spaniards in July, 1495, and from it they made frequent
incursions upon the territories of Narbonne and Carcassonne during
the ensuing winter.
X On Friday, the 8th of October, 1496.
5 Don Diego de A/evedo.
272 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMIXES. [1497
sins, He begins with such small and supportable afflictions ;
for the King and Queen of Castile were visited afterwards
with greater afflictions, and so were we too. The King and
Queen of Castile acted very imprudently, and were ill-
advised to forswear themselves to our master, especially after
he had been so friendly as to restore Roussillon, which had
cost his father so much to fortify and defend, and which had
been mortgaged to him for 300,000 crowns ; all which was
remitted to hinder him from disturbing our king in his in-
tended conquest of Naples. Besides which, they renewed
the ancient alliances with not only king and king, kingdom
and kingdom, but the individual subjects on both sides were
mutually bound ; and they promised not to interrupt us in
our conquest, nor to marry any of their daughters with the
houses of either Naples, England, or Flanders ; which offer
came first from themselves, and was made by one Friar
John de Mauleon, on the part of the Queen of Castile. Yet
as soon as they saw the war begun, and the king at Rome,
they sent their ambassadors to all the neighbouring states
to make an alliance against our king ; and particularly to
Venice, where I was resident at that time ; and there the
league (which I have spoken of so much) was made between
the Pope, the King of the Romans, the Signory of Venice,
the Spaniards, and the Duke of Milan; and immediately they
began to act offensively against our king, and to declare that
their former obligation had become void, and they were no
longer bound to observe it, especially that article about the
marriage of their daughters (of whom they had four, and
but one son), though they first made that offer of themselves,
as you have already heard.
But to proceed in my history. After the wars in Italy
were over, and the king had nothing left in the kingdom of
Najles but Gaeta, which he lost afterwards, — after the rival
pretensions to Roussillon were adjusted, and each prince was
in possession of what was his own, they sent a gentleman
to King Charles, and with him certain monks of Montferrat,
it being the custom of Spain to manage all their negotiations
by such people, either out of hypocrisy and pretence of re-
ligion, or to save expense; for, as I said before, the treaty
about Roussillon was managed by Friar John de Mauleon.
These ambassadors, at their first audience, besought the
1497.] NEGOCIATIONS WITH SPAIN. 273
king that he would forget the injury that had been done
him by the King and Queen of Castile (which king and queen
are always mentioned together, because Castile came by
her, and she had in that country the principal authority,
and it was a marriage of more than ordinary honour). Then
they began to propose a truce, in which their whole league
was to be comprehended, and our king was to keep Gaeta
in his possession, and what other places were then in his
hands in the kingdom of Naples ; that during the truce his
majesty might victual them as he pleased ; and that a time
and place should be appointed, at which ambassadors from
all the parties to the league (or as many as desired it) should
meet to conclude a final peace; after which the King and
Queen of Spain intended to pursue the conquest of the
Moors, and, having finished that, to pass over from Granada
into Africa against the King of Fez, whose kingdom reaches
to the coast on the other side of that sea. However, some
say they never designed to do this, but were resolved to be
satisfied with the conquest of the kingdom of Granada,
which indeed was a glorious action, and the fairest acqui-
sition which had been gained, not only in our times, but by
all their predecessors ; and I wish for their own sakes they
had rested there, and kept their promise to our king.
With these ambassadors of theirs our king sent back the
Lord of Clerifux *, in Dauphiny, and endeavoured to con-
clude either a separate peace or a truce with them, without
comprehending any of the rest of the confederates ; but if
the king had accepted their overture, he had preserved
Gaeta, which might have been sufficient for the recovery of
the whole kingdom, considering what friends his majesty had
in it. When the Lord of Clerieux returned, he brought new
propositions, for Gaeta was lost before he got to Castile.
These propositions were, that the ancient alliance between the
two crowns should be renewed, and that by common consent
and expense they should endeavour the conquest of Italy,
and that both the kings should be personally present in that
expedition-! But first they insisted that a general truce
* Guillanme de Poitiers, Lord of Clerieu, and titular Marquis of
Cotron in Calabria.
f " The Spanish writers," says Mr. Prescott, " impute the first sug-
gestion of this project for the conquest and division of the kingdom v*f
VOL. U- I
274 THE MEMOIRS OF PIIILIP DE COMMINES. [1497-
might be concluded, wherein the whole league should be
comprehended, and a day and place appointed in Piedmont,
to which each of them might send their ambassadors ; for
they were desirous to acquit themselves honourably towards
their confederates. But all this overture, in my opinion,
(and I have understood as much since), was but an artirice
to gain time, and suffer King Ferrand and his successor King
Frederic to breathe a little. However, they would have been
contented to have had that kingdom to themselves, and their
title was better than that of those who possessed it; but our
king's title (which was the house of Anjou's) was better
than either ; yet, considering the nature of the country, and
the people who inhabit it, I think he has best right to it that
can keep possession of it, so strangely are they inclined to
revolutions.
After this, the king sent Clerieux back again into Spain,
and with him one Michel de Grammont, with certain new
proposals. This Lord de Clerieux had some little affection
for the house of Arragon, and hoped to have the marquisate
of Cotron in Calabria, which the King of Spain obtaii.ed
among the last conquests which he made in that province.
Clerieux pretended it was his, for he is an honest man, but
something too credulous, especially of such great persons.
The second time he returned, he brought back with him
another ambassador from them, and the Lord de Clerieux
reported that the King and Quren of Castile would be con-
tented to take Calabria (which is the part of Italy that lies
next Sicily) for their whole interest in that kingdom, and
that our king should have the rest; he offered likewise that
the King of Castile should be present in person in this in-
Naples by the combined powers of France and Spain, to the French,
who, they say, went so far as to specify the details of the partition sub-
sequently adopted ; according to which the two Calabrias were assigned
to Spain. However this may be, there is little doubt that Ferdinand
had long entertained the idea of asserting his claim at some time or
other to the crown of Naples. The accession of Frederic, in particular,
Nad given great umbrage to the Spanish monarch; and the Castilian
invoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, agreeably to the instructions of his court,
urged Alexander the Sixth to withhold the investiture of the kingdom
from Frederic, but unavailingly, as the Pope's interests were too closely
connected by marriage with those of the royal fauuly of Naples."- -
History oj Ferdinand and Isabella, voL ii. p. 311.
1497.] TRUCE WITH SPAIN. 275
tended expedition, and contribute as much towards paying
the army as our king ; and, indeed, he was at that time mas-
ter of four or five fortified towns in Calabria, and among the
rest was Cotron, which is not only a strong, but a beautiful
city. I was present when the ambassador made his report,
and most were of opinion he had been imposed upon, and
that it would be necessary to send another ambassador of
greater sagacity, to search more narrowly into the affair.
Upon which the Lord du Bouchage was joined with him in
the embassy. He was a person of great wisdom and pene-
tration in state atfairs, and had enjoyed places of great trust
and honour in the late king's reign, and was still highly
valued and esteemed by his son. The Spanish ambassador,
who came along with the Lord de Clerieux, would never
confirm what he had said ; only he told us, that lie believed
Monsieur de Clerieux would not have made that report, if
the King and Queen of Castile had not said it ; which gave
us the more suspicion it was a trick ; and, besides, nobody
could believe the King of Spain would go thither in person,
or that he would, or indeed could, bear an equal share of tne
expense with our master.
As soon as the Lord du Bouchage, Monsieur de Clerieux,
Michel de Grammont, and the rest of our ambassadors, were
arrived at the court of the King and Queen of Castile, they
ordered them to be lodged in apartments where none could
converse with them, and appointed persons to have an eye
over them, and they were admitted to three private audiences
of the king and queen. When the Lord du Bouchage had ac-
quainted them with what the Lord de Clerieux had reported
to his master, and Michel de Grammont had confirmed it,
they answered, that they might have said some such thing by
way of discourse, but not otherwise, yet they would readily
engage themselves in any peace that should be for our
master's honour and advantage. The Lord de Clerieux wae
very uneasy at their answer (and with reason), and justified
to their faces, in the presence of the Lord du Bouchage, that
they had made him this offer. However, the Lord du Bou-
chage and the other ambassadors concluded a truce for two
months*, without comprehending the league in it; but in-
* This truce was signed on the 5th of March, 1497, and was to lasl
Until the end of October in that year. — Sismonui, xii. 444.
t J
276 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DK COMMINES. [1497
eluding the princes who had married their daughters, and the
fathers of their sons-in-law (namely, the King of the Romans,'
and the King of England), for the Prince of Wales* was but
very young at that time. The King and Queen of Castile had
four daughters ; the eldest was a widow, and married to the
son of the King of Portugal f, who died lately, having broken
his neck in her sight as he was passing a career upon a jennet
before her, three months after their marriage ; and they had
one daughter J unmarried.
As soon as the Lord du Bouchage was arrived, and had
informed the king of his reception at the Spanish court, his
majesty was sensible he had acted wisely in sending him,
for now he was assured of what he but suspected before,
and that was, the credulity of the Lord de Clerieux. The
Lord du Bouchage told him, moreover, that all he could ob-
tain was that truce, which, however, his majesty had liberty
either to accept or reject. The king confirmed it, and therein
he did wisely, for it broke up that confederacy which had
given so much disturbance to his affairs, and which hitherto
he had been unable to dissolve, though he had tried all pos-
sible means to do it. The Lord du Bouchage also acquainted
his majesty, that they would send ambassadors to him with
power to conclude a peace ; and of this the King and Queen
of Castile had assured him when he had his audience of
leave. He told our king also, that at his coming away he
left their only son, the Prince of Castile, very dangerously ill.-
* Arthur, son of King Henry VII. of England, was born on the 20th
of September, 1486, and married to Catherine of Arragon on the 12th
of November, 1501. But a few months after his marriage the young
prince sickened and died, and his widow was contracted to his brother
Henry, afterwards Henry VIII.
t Alphonso, son of John II., King of Portugal, was born on the 18th
of May, 1475, and married to Isabella of Castile in 1490. He died of
a fall from his horse in the following year, and his widow married
Emanuel, his successor on the throne.
% This was the Infanta Maria, who married her brother-in-law
Emanuel of Portugal, after the death of her sister Isabella. The fourth
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella was named Juana, and married
Philip, Archduke of Austria, in H9G.
1497.] DEATH OF THE PRINCE OP CASTILE. 277
Ch. XXIV. — A Digression concerning the Fortunes and Misfortunes
which happened to the House of Castile in the Author's Time. — 1497.
The Lord du Bouchage, ten or twelve days after his return
into France, received letters from a herald, whom he had
left behind to wait on the ambassadors that were to come
from thence. The letters were to this purpose, that he must
not wonder at their deferring the embassy, because of the
death of the Prince of Castile* (as they called him), to the
unspeakable grief of the king and queen, but especially of
the queen, who was more like to die than to live ; and cer-
tainly I never heard of so solemn and so universal a mourn-
ing for any prince in Europe. I have since been informed
by ambassadors, that all the tradesmen put themselves into
black clothes, and shut up their shops for forty days to-
gether; the nobility and gentry covered their mules with
black cloth down to their very knees, so that there was no-
thing of them to be seen but their eyes ; and set up black
banners upon all the gates of the cities. When the Lady
Margaret (daughter to the King of the Romans f, sister to the
Archduke of Austria}:, and wife to the said Prince of Cas-
tile) was informed of the news of his death, she miscarried
of a daughter (being six months gone with child), which was
born dead. What a terrible blow must this have been to a
family which had known nothing before but felicity and
renown, and had a larger territory (I mean by succession) than
any other prince in Christendom ! And, besides the late ac-
quisition of Granada, they had forced the greatest monarch
in Europe out of Italy, and defeated his enterprise, which was
looked upon to be such a mighty action even by the Pope §
himself, that he would have taken away the title of " Most
Christian" from the King of France, and conferred it on the
King of Castile, to whom several briefs were addressed with
that title superscribed ; but, because some of the Cardinals
• On the 4th of October, 1497, in the twentieth year of his age.
f Maximilian I., afterwards emperor,
j Philip I., Archduke of Austria.
$ Alexander VI.
278 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1497.
opposed it, he gave him another title, which was, " The
Most Catholic," by which title he is called now, and I sup-
pose he will be styled so for ever at Rome. What a sad and
surprising turn of fortune must this accident have been ! at
a time when they had reduced their kingdom to obedience,
regulated the laws, settled the administration of justice, and
were so well and happy in their own persons, as if God and
man had conspired to advance their power and honour above
all the rest of the princes in Europe.
Nor was this their only affliction, for their eldest daughter
(the dearest thing to them in the world after the death of
her brother) was forced to leave them, having some few
days before been married to Emanuel*, the young King of
Portugal. He was then indeed but Prince of Portugal ; but
the crown of Portugal fell to him by the death of the last
King of Portugal, who had most barbarously caused the
head of his father-in-law f to be cut off, and killed his wife's
brother J with his own hand (who was elder brother to the
king that now reipns in Portugal), and kept this present
king in perpetual fear, and killed his own brother before his
wife's face, as they were sitting at dinner, to make way for
one of his bastards § to be king. After which cruelties he
lived in continual fear and suspicion, and not long after his
only son broke his neck by falling off his mule, as you have
heard ; and he was the first husband to the lady of whom I
am now speaking, and who is Queen of Portugal at present,
into which kingdom she has been twice married ; and by
report she is one of the wisest and most honourable persons
in the world.
* Emanuel, surnamed the Fortunate, was the son of Ferdinand, Dnke
of Viseo. He succeeded his cousin, John II., on the throne of Por-
tugal in 1495, and died on the 13th of December, 1521.
f This is a mistake. Eleanor of Portugal was the daughter of Fer-
dinand, Dnke of Viseo; but it was Ferdinand, Duke ot Braganza, who
was beheaded by order of John II. in 1483, on the charge of having
revealed secrets of state.
J James of Portugal, Duke of Viseo, having conspired against
John II. was stabbed by him on the 23rd of August, 1484.
§ George, son of John II. and Anne de Mendoza. His father wished
to legitimate him in order to leave him the crown; but the Pope inter-
posed, at the request of Queen Eleanor, and George was made Duke of
Aveiro. — Am6ejlmb, i. 668.
1498.] MISFORTUNES OF THE SPANISH MONARCHS. 279
But, to continue our relation of the miserable accidents
which in a short space befel the King and Queen of Castile,
who had lived in so much glory and felicity to the fiftieth
year of their age or more, you must know they had
married their eldest daughter to the King of Portugal, first
that all Spain might be in peace ; for they were entirely
possessed of all its provinces, except the kingdom of Na-
varre, which they governed as they pleased, and in which
they had also four of the strongest towns. Secondly, to
adjust and compose the difference about her dower and
marriage-portion : and, thirdly, for the benefit and advantage
of some of the grandees of Portugal, who were in the King
of Castile's interest ; for by this match those lords who were
banished that country upon the death of the two princes
above-mentioned, and had had their estates confiscated (which
continues to this day, though the crime of which they were
accused was only endeavouring to set this king up who now
reigns), had estates given them in Castile ; and their lands
in Portugal, which were forfeited by the attainder, were as-
signed to the queen's use. And yet, notwithstanding all these
considerations, the King and Queen of Castile were extremely
troubled at this match ; for you must understand there is
no nation in Europe that the Spaniards abhor and deride so
much as they do the Portuguese. So that it was no small
mortification to them that they had married their daughter
'to a person that was not pleasing to the Castilians and the
rest of their subjects, and had it been to be done again, it
would never have been done ; which must needs have been
a great affliction to them, and the greater, because she had
to leave them. But, bavins; mastered their sorrow as well
as they could, they conducted them through all the chief
cities in their kingdoms, caused the King of Portugal to be
received as their prince, his queen as princess, and declared
them their successors after their decease. And now a little
comfort came to them ; for their daughter, Princess of Cas-
tile and Queen of Portugal, was pregnant of a child. But
then followed the consummation of their sorrows, this young
lady, whom they loved and valued so highly, died in child-
bed of a son about a month since, and it is now October
1498. Though the queen died, yet her son lived, and i*
X 4
280 THE MEMOIRS OF PniLIP DE COMM1NES. \_1497.
called Emanuel* after his father; yet I am informed theif
affliction is so great, they would have given God thanks to
have taken them with their daughter.
All these great misfortunes happened to them in three
months' space ; nor were we without our share of afflictions \
for, before the death of the above-mentioned princess, we in
this kingdom were chastised and afllicted by the death of
King Charles VIII., of whom I have spoken so much, and
who died as you shall hear hereafter ; and it seemed as if
God had been offended with both these illustrious families,
and would not suffer the one to triumph over the other.
No such revolution happens in a kingdom, but it is generally
attended with very sad consequences, and though possibly
gome may be gainers, yet there will be a hundred losers to
one who .profits, besides the changing of a man's whole life
and conversation; for that which pleases one king will
hardly be agreeable to another. And (as I have said in
another place) he that reflects upon the sudden and severe
chastisements which God has inflicted on the great princes
of Europe within these thirty years, shall find them more and
greater than in two hundred years before, including France,
Castile, Portugal, England, the Kingdom of Naples, Flan-
ders, and Bretagne ; and if any should attempt to give a
particular account of all the misfortunes which I have seen,
(and perhaps most of the persons, both men and women, on
whom they fell), it would swell into a vast volume, and as-
tonk-h the whole world, though it contained no more than
the occurrences of ten years past. By these afflictions the
power of God ought to be acknowledged and remembered ;
for the troubles which he lays upon princes are heavier,
more grievous, and more lasting than those he lays upon
inferior persons. So that, in short (upon a full and just
consideration of all circumstances), I think the lives of
princes are as much subject to afflictions and anxiety of
mind as other men's, at least if they regard their own affairs
themselves, and endeavour to prevent such miseries from
falling upon them as they see have ruined their neighbours.
• This child, whose birth had cost so dear, was born on the 23rd of
August, 1498, and received the name of Miyuel, in honour of the saint
on whose day he first saw the light. He died on the 19th of July, l&Oa
— Anselme, i. 602.
1498.] THE CASTLE OF AMBOISE. 28]
It is true they punish their subjects at their pleasure, and
God does the same by them ; for, besides Him, there is none
above them. But that kingdom is most happy whose king
is wise, and fears God and his commandments.
Thus have you seen, in few words, the misfortunes which
within the space of three months befel these two great and
potent kingdoms, which not long before were so incensed
one against the other, so busy to subvert one another, and
so intent upon their own interest and advancement, that
nothing which they enjoyed was sufficient to satisfy their
boundless ambition. I confess (as I said before) no change
happens in any government but some people are the better
for it ; yet when a prince dies suddenly his death is at first
terrible to all.
Ch. XXV. — Of the magnificent Building which King Charles began not
long before his Death; his good Inclination to reform the Church, the
Laws, the Treasury, and himself; and how he died suddenly in this
Resolution in his Castle at Amboise. — 1498.
Lhave now done with the affairs of Italy and Spain, and
shall return to speak of our own misfortunes and losses in
France (at which some people might possibly rejoice, espe-
cially if they gained anything by them), and give you an
account of the death of Charles VIII., our king, who died
suddenly at his castle of Amboise, where he had begun the
most august and magnificent building that any prince had
undertaken for one hundred years before, both in the town
and the castle ; and this appears by the towers, to the top
of which one may ride on horseback. As to his building in
the town, the design was admirable, the model lofty, and
the erection would have required a great deal of time. He
had brought his artificers (as his carvers, painters, and such
like) from Italy, so that the whole fabric seemed the enter-
prise of a young prince who had no thought of dying so
soon ; for he collected whatever was commended to him
either in France, Italy, or Flanders. Besides this great
work, his mind was bent upon another expedition into Italy,
262 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DV COMMUTES. [1498.
for lie was sensible he had committed many great errors in
his first ; he spoke often of tliern, and resolved, if ever he
recovered what he had lost in that country, he would keep
it better than he had done ; and, having partisans and intelli-
gence in all places, he thought it not impossible but he might
return and recover the kingdom of Naples ; to which pur-
pose he resolved to send thither a body of fifteen hundred
Italian men-at-arms under the command of the Marquis of
Mantua, the Ursini, the Vitelli, and the Prefect of Rome,
who was brother to the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula ;
and the Lord d'Aubigny, who had done such good service in
Calabria, was to march into the territories of the Floren-
tines, who were to bear half the charges for six months.
His first attempt was to have been upon Pisa, or the adja-
cent small towns ; and then, joining all his forces, to march
in one body into the kingdom of Naples, from whence
messengers were sent to him continually. Pope Alexander
VI., who now reigns, being offended with the Venetians,
endeavoured to come into the alliance, and carried on private
intrigues for the purpose by means of an agent that lay in-
cognito, whom I privately conveyed into the king's chamber
not long before his death. The Venetians were ready to join
with us against the Duke of Milan, and our negociations
with Spain were as you have heard ; the King of the Romans
desired nothing so earnestly as the friendship of our king,
and that they two might manage their own affairs in Italy
by themselves. This King of the Romans was called
Maximilian, and he was a mortal enemy to the Venetians,
because they had taken and kept several places belonging to
the house of Austria, of which he was next heir, and heir
to the empire besides.
The king had also resolved within himself to live amore strict
and religious life than he had formerly done, to regulate the
laws, to reform the Church, and so to rectify his finances that
he would not raise above one million twTo hundred thousand
francs upon his subjects by way of annual tax, which was
the sum given him by the three Estates at their convention at
Tours, upon his accession to the throne. He intended the
said sum should be employed in the defence of the kingdom,
and for himself he would live upon his crown lands, as his
predecessors had done before him ; which he might easily
14S"3.] PLANS AND DEATH OF CHARLES VIII. 283
have done if it had been well managed, for his private re-
venue (comprehending his duties and customs) came to above
a million a year. Had he done as he resolved, it would have
been a great ease to the people, who pay now ahove two
millions and a half. He was very earnest likewise to have
reformed the abuses in the order of St. Benedict and others.
He got good preachers about him, and was a constant
hearer of them. He would fain have ordered it so that a
bishop should have enjoyed but one bishopric, a cardinal
two, and that all should have been obliged to be resident
upon their benefices ; but he would have found it a difficult
task to have persuaded the clergy to it. He gave alms
liberally to the poor not many days before his death, as I
was since informed by his confessor the Bishop of Angers*,
who is a very eminent prelate. He had ereeted also a place
for public audience f, where he heard and dispatched causes,
especially for the benefit of the poor ; in which place I saw
him for two hours together, not above a week before he
died ; after which time I never saAV him again. Matters of
great moment were not dispatched at these audiences, but
he had set up that court to keep people in awe, and espe-
cially his officers, some of whom he suspended for bribery and
corruption.
The king being in such great glory in relation to this
world, and in such a good mind as to God, on the 7th of
April, 1498, being the eve of Palm Sunday, took his queen
(Anne of Bretagne) by the hand, and led her out of her
chamber to a place where she had never been before, to see
them play at tennis in the castle-ditch. They entered
together into a gallery called the Haquelebac Gallery, upon
the account of its having been formerly guarded by one
Haquelebac. It was the nastiest place about the castle,
broken down at the entrance, and everybody committed a
nuisance in it that would. The king was not a tall man,
yet he knocked his head as he went in. He spent some
time in looking upon the players, and talked freely with
everybody. I was not there myself (for I had gone to my
* Jean de Rely, a native of Arras, was made Bishop of Angers on
the 1st of December, 1491, and died at Saumuron the 27th of March,
1498.
t By letters dated on the 30th of December, 1497.
284 THE MKMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1498
country-house about a week before) but his confessor the
Bishop of Angers, and the gentlemen of his bed-chamber,
who were then about him, told me what I write. The
last expression he used whilst he was in health was, that he
hoped never to commit a mortal sin again, nor a venial sin
if he could help it; and with those words in his mouth lie
fell down backwards, and lost his speech. It was about two in
in the afternoon when he fell, and he lay motionless till eleven
o'clock at night. Thrice herecovered his speech, but he quickly
lost it again, as his confessor told me, who had confessed
him twice that week, once of course, and a second time upon
occasion of his touching for the king's evil. Every one
went into the gallery that pleased, where the king was laid
upon a coarse bed ; and he never left it till he died, which
was nine hours after. The confessor told me that every
time he recovered his speech he called out upon God, the
glorious Virgin Mary, St. Claude, and St. Blaise, to assist
him. And thus died that great and powerful monarch in a
sordid and filthy place, though lie had so many magnificent
palaces of his own, and was building another more stately
than any of them, yet he died in this poor chamber. How
plain, then, and natural is it, from these two examples, for us
to acknowledge the power and omnipotence of God, and
that our life is but a span and a trifle, though we are so
greedy and ambitious after the riches of this world ; and
that princes no more than peasants are able to resist the
Almighty.
Ch. XXVI. — How holy Friar Jerome was burned at Florence by the
Malice and Solicitation of the Pope, and several Venetians and Flo-
rentines who were his Enemies 1498.
In my relation of the affairs of Italy*, I have mentioned &
Jacobite friar who lived at Florence for the space of fifteen
years, in great reputation for the sanctity of his life, and
whom I aaw and conversed with in the year 1495. His
* 6w Book VI1L Chaj>. S.
1498.] FATE OF SAVONAROLA. 285
name was Jerome, and he had foretold several things which
afterwards came to pass. He had always affirmed that the king
would make a voyage into Italy, declaring it puhliely in his
sermons, and asserting he had both that and other things by
revelation from God, by whom he pronounced our king to
have been chosen to reform the Church by the sword, and
chastise the insolence of tyrants. But his pretending to re-
velation created him many enemies, made him incur the dis-
pleasure of the Pope, and gained him ill-will from several
in Florence. His lite and discourses (as far as could be dis-
covered) were the severest and most holy in the world, for
he was declaiming perpetually against sin, and making many
proselytes in that city.
In the same year 1498, and within four or five days after
the death of King Charles VIII., died Friar Jerome also*;
which I mention the rather, because he had always publicly
asserted that the king should return again into Italy, to
accomplish the commission which God had given him for
the reforming of the Church by the sword, and the ex-
pulsion of tyrants out of Italy ; and that in case the king
refused or neglected it, God would punish him severely ;
all which former sermons and those which he preached at
this time, he caused to be printed, and they are to be pur-
chased at this day. His threats to the king of God's severe
anger if he returned not into Italy, he wrote several times
to his majesty a little before his death ; and he told me as
much at my return from Italy, assuring me that sentence
was pronounced in heaven against the king, provided he
refused to observe what God had commanded, and did not
keep his soldiers from plundering.
About the time of the king's death there were great divi-
sions among the Florentines. Some expected the king's
return, and very earnestly desired it, upon confidence in
Friar Jerome's assurance ; and in that confidence they ex-
hausted and ruined themselves in their expenses to promote
t lie recovery of Pisa and the rest of the towns which they
had delivered to the king ; but Pisa remained in possession
of the Venetians. Some of the citizens were for siding
* Charles VIII. died on the 7th of April, and Savonarola on tb»
23rd of Mny.
2fc6 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1498.
with the league and deserting our king ; and these alleged
that all was but folly and delusion, and that Friar Jerome
was a heretic and a hypocrite, and that he ought to be
put into a sack and thrown into the river; but he had
friends in the town who protected him against that fate.
The Pope and the Duke of Milan wrote often against him,
assuring the Florentines that Pisa and the rest of their
towns should be restored, if they would abandon our king
and punish Friar Jerome. It accidentally happened, that
at the time of the king's death the Signory consisted chiefly
Of Friar Jerome's enemies (for the Signory in that city is
Changed every two months), who suborned a Cordelier* to
quarrel with him, and to proclaim him a heretic and an
abuser of the people, in pretending to revelation, and to
declare publicly that he had no such gift; and, to prove
what he said, he challenged him to the ordeal of fire before
the Signory. Friar Jerome had more wit than to accept
this challenge; but one of his brethren j offered to do it for
him, and another of the Cordeliers } volunteered to do as
much on the other side ; so that a day § was appointed when
they were to come to their trial, and both of them presented
themselves to enter the fire accompanied by all the friars of
their orders. The Jacobite brought the Host in his hand,
which the Signory and Cordeliers insisted he should lay by ;
but the Jacobite, being obstinate to the contrary, and re-
solved not to part with it, they returned all to their
convents. Whereupon the people, encouraged by Friar
Jerome's enemies, and authorised by the Signory, went to
his convent and fetched him and two more of his brethren ||
out, and tortured them most cruelly, killing the chief man
» Friar Francis of Apulia, of the Order of Minor Observantines. His
challenge to Savonarola was in these terms: " I know," he said, " I am
a sinner; I have not the presumption to perform miracles: nevertheless,
let a fire be lighted, and I am ready to enter it with him. I am certain
of perishing, but Christian charity teaches me not to withhold my life i£
in sacrificing it, I might precipitate into hell an heresiarch, who baa
already drawn down into it so many souls." — Sismondi, xii. 461.
f Friar Domenico Buouvicino.
% Friar Andrea Rondinelli.
§ On the 17th of April, in the public square of Florence.
g These were Domenico Buouvicino and Silvestro Meniffi.
1498.] OBSEQUIES OF CHARLES VTO. 287
in the city (called Francisco Vallori*), only for being his
friend. The Pope sent them power and commission to
make out process against him, and at last he, and his two
brethren were burnt, f The charge against him consisted
only of two articles ; that he created disorder in the city,
and that he was an impostor; and that what he pretended
to know by revelation he was told by his friends in the
council. For my own part I will neither condemn no!
excuse him, nor will I say they did ill or well in putting
him to death ; but I am sure he foretold several things
which afterwards came to pass, and which all his friends
in Florence could never have suggested. And as to our
master and the evils with which he threatened him, they
happened exactly as you have heard, first the death of the
Dauphin, and then his own death ; predictions of which I
have seen in letters under his own hand to the king.
Ch. XXVII.— Of the Obsequies and Funeral of King Charles VIII.,
and the Coronation of his Successor Louis XII.; with the Genealogie*
of the Kings of France to King Louis XII. — 1498.
The distemper of which the king died was an apoplexy, or
a catarrh, which the physicians hoped would have fallen
down into one of his arms, and, though it might have taken
away the use of that member, they were in no fear of his
death. His majesty had four physicians about him, but his
greatest confidence was in him that had the least knowledge
and experience in physic ; and by his directions he was so en-
tirely governed, that the other three durst not give their
judgments, though they saw the indications of death, and
would gladly have ordered him a purge three or four days
before. All people addressed themselves to the Duke of
Orleans immediately, as next heir to the crown ; but the
* Francesco Valori had been chief gonfalonier of the city during tin
preceding year.
f On the 23rd of May, 1498.
288 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1498.
gentlemen of King Charles's bed-chamber buried him in
great pomp and solemnity. As soon as he was dead, service
was begun for his soul, which continued day and night ; for
when the Canons had done the Cordeliers began ; and when
they had ended, the Bons-hommes or Minims took it up, for
they were an order of his own foundation. He lay eight days
at Amboise, part of the time in a chamber very richly hung,
and part in the church. In short, he lay in great state,
and the whole solemnity was more costly than the funeral
of any of his predecessors had been. The gentlemen of his
bed-chamber, all that had waited on his person, and all the
officers of his court, never stirred from his corpse, but
watched it constantly ; and the service continued till his
body was interred, which was about a month after* ; and, as
I have been told by some of the officers of his exchequer,
this ceremony cost forty-five thousand francs. I came to
Amboise two days after his death, went to pay my devotions
upon his bier, and stayed there five or six hours. To speak
impartially, I never saw so solemn a mourning for any
prince, nor one that continued so long ; and no wonder, for
he had been more bountiful to his favourites, to the gentle-
men of his bed-chamber, and to ten or twelve gentlemen of
his privy-chamber, had treated them better, and given them
greater estates than any king had ever done before, ; and in-
deed he gave them too much. Besides, he was the most
affable and sweetest natured prince in the world. I verily
believe he never said a word to any man that could in reason
displease him ; so that he could never have died in a better
hour to make himself memorable in history, and lamented by
all who had served him. I do really think I was the only
person in the whole world to whom he was unkind ; but,
being sensible that he was in his youth, and my treatment
not at all his own doing, I could not resent it.
Having lain one night at Amboise, I went and paid my
respects to the new king, with whom I had been formerly as
intimate as any other person about the court, and much of
my troubles and losses were incurred for his sake ; but now
all our former acquaintance and the service I had done him
were forgotten. However, he entered upon his government
* The corpse was conveyed from Amboise on the 1 7th of April.
1498. J ACCESSION OF LOUIS XIT. 239
with great wisdom. He altered not any pensions for that
year, though they were still to last for six months. He re-
trenched nothing of his salaries, but declared that every
officer in his kingdom should continue in the post in which
he found him ; which was very honourable and discreet.
As soon as all things were made ready, he proceeded to his
coronation *, and I was there among the rest. The peers of
France (according to ancient custom) were represented by
these following : The Duke of Alencon represented the
Duke of Burgundy ; the Duke of Bourbon the Duke of Nor-
mandy ; and the Duke of Lorraine the Duke of Guienne.
The first of the Counts was Monsieur de Bavestain, who
represented the Count of Flanders. The second was Engil-
bert of Cleves, who represented the Count of Champagne,
and the third was Monsieur de Foix, who represented the
Count of Toulouse. The said coronation was at Bheims on
the 27th of May, 1498, and Louis XII. was the fourth king
wlio came collaterally to the crown. The two first were
Charles Martel, or Pepin his son, and Hugh Capet, both of
them mayors of the palace, or governors of their kings, who
afterwards turned usurpers, deposed their masters, and took
the government upon themselves. The third king was
Philip of Valois, and the fourth King Louis, who now reigns.
But the two last came by a just and indisputable title to the
crown. The first race of the Kings of France is deduced
from Meroveus: there had been two kings before this Me-
roveus, that is to say, Pharamond, (who was the first that
was elected King of France ; for, before his time they were
called Dukes or Kings of Gaul,) and after him one of his
sons called Clodion. Pharamond was chosen king in the
year 420, and reigned ten years ; his son Clodion reigned
eighteen, so that Pharamond and his son reigned twenty-
eight years. Meroveus, who succeeded, was not Clodion's
eon, but his kinsman; so that there seem to have been five
interruptions in the royal line. However, as I said before,
the genealogy of the Kings of France begins generally at
Meroveus, who was made King in the year 418 ; so that the
right line is derived from thence, and runs down to Louis
XII., who was crowned one thousand and fifty years after
* He was consecrated and crowned at Rhcims by Cardinal Brii;onnct,
on the 27th of May, 14(J8.— Anselme, i. 127.
VOL. II. 0
£90 THE MEMOIRS OF PHILIP DE COMMINES. [1498.
the pedigree of the said kings began. They who would de-
rive it from King Pharamond need only add twenty-eight
more, and the number will amount to one thousand and
seventy-eight years since there were kings called kings of
France. From Meroveus to King Pepin there were three
hundred and thirty-three years, during which time the line
of Meroveus lasted. From King Pepin to Hugh Capet there
were two hundred and thirty-seven years ; and during that
time the line of King Pepin and his son Charlemagne con-
tinued. Hugh Capet's line lasted three hundred and thirty-
nine years, and expired at the accession of Philip de Valois ;
and the line of the said Philip de Valois became extinguished
in Charles VIII., who (as is said before) died in the year
1498, and was the last of that family, which had continued
to possess the kingdom one 'Hundred and sixty-nine years,
during which time seven kings had succeeded of that line,
that is to say, Philip de Valois, King John, King Charles
V., King Charles VI., King Charles VII., King Louis XI.,
and King Charles VIIL, who was the last of the right line
of Philip de Valois.
BND OF THE MEMOffiS OF PHILIP DE COMMINUS.
HISTORY
OP
LOUIS XL KING OF FMNCB,
AND OF THE MEMORABLE OCCURRENCES OP HIS REIG!»,
FROM THE YEAR 1460 TO 14S3;
OTHERWISE CALLED
THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE,
WRITTEN BY A
CLERK IN THE HOTEL DE VILLE OF PARIS.
l» 9
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
The Scandalous Chronicle forms so valuable a supplement
to the Memoirs of Commines, that I have determined to
follow the example of previous editors, and insert it in this
place. In reliance on the opinion of Petitot, I have ascribed
its authorship to Jean de Troj'es.
The literary history of this work is somewhat singular.
The first known edition was published under the following
title, — The Chronicle of the very Christian and very victori-
ous Louis of Valois (whom God absolve!), eleventh of the
name ; with various other adventures which occurred in the
kingdom of France, as well as in neighbouring countries, from
the year 1460 to the year 1483 inclusive. It is a small folio
volume, printed in Gothic characters, and was probably pub-
lished about the end of the fifteenth century, though the
title-page bears no date, and mentions neither the author's
nor the printer's name. The three following editions are
equally silent as to the authorship of the work ; but the
fifth edition, published in 1529, ascribes it to a clerk in the
Hotel de Ville of Paris. In 1583, Gilles Corrozet, in his
Tresor des Histoires de France, quotes it as " The Chronicle
of King Louis XL otherwise called the Scandalous Chronicle,
by Jean de Troyes ; " and in the following year, La Croix
du Maine, in his Bibliotheque Frangaise, makes this state-
ment: "Jean de Troyes was a French historian of the time
294 editor's preface.
of Louis XL, king of France ; lie wrote a chronicle of the
said king, which is vulgarly called the Scandalous Chro-
nicle, because it makes mention of everything done by the
said king, and relates matters which are not greatly to
his advantage, but rather to his dishonour and scandal."
Such is the authority for the name and authorship of the
work ; and though slight, it has been deemed sufficient by most
bibliographers, notwithstanding the controversies raised by
some eminent writers on the subject. The Chronicle was
first appended to the Memoirs of Commines, in Jean Gode-
froy's edition, published at Brussels in 1713. It will also be
found in Lenglet du Fresnoy's edition, published in 1747.
The present translation is from the text in Petitot's great
collection of memoirs relating to the history of France.
But although it has been agreed to attribute this Chronicle
to Jean de Troyes, no researches have succeeded in discover-
ing any particulars in relation to the author himself. It has
not even been positively established whether he can be
identified with the clerk in the Hotel de Ville of Paris,
mentioned on the title-page of some of the earlier editions.
In fact, all is speculation regarding him: but it is conjectured
reasonably enough by Grosley that he was a son of a certain
Jean de Troyes mentioned by Juvenal des Ursins as having
distinguished himself in the disturbances at Paris during the
reign of Charles VI., and who was appointed Grand Master
of the Artillery by Charles VII , in reward for his services.
It is hard to understand why this should have been called
the Scandalous Chronicle ; unless, as Sorel suggests, the
name was given to it by some bookseller in order to pique
the curiosity of the public. Far from seeking to defame
Louis XL, the author omits all mention of a vast number of
the actions most discreditable to his memory ; and in regard
to his gallantries, he is almost as silent as Commines. The
chief characteristic of the work is its straightforward sim-
editor's preface 295
plicity : it is full of curious remarks on passing events, such
as might be made by a superficial observer, who took no
pains to penetrate into the causes and consequences of the
occurrences he describes. It is this quality which renderg
the perusal of the memoirs of Jean de Troyes most interest-
ing, after reading those of Commines. The latter unmasks
the policy of his sovereign, reveals all his intrigues, and
indicates the secret springs of his conduct ; the former
attempts nothing of the kind, but merely portrays events in
the light in which Louis XL desired that they should be seen
by his subjects. Take, for instance, the narrative of the
king's visit to Peronne, in 1468. No one would suppose,
from the account given by Jean de Troyes, that Louis, a
dupe to his own artifices, had imprudently placed himself in
the power of the Duke of Burgundy, and heen detained a
prisoner by him; the treaties concluded in the town appear
to have been signed freely by the French monarch, who
thereupon voluntarily consented to join Duke Charles in
his expedition against the Liegeois. After reading the
true history of the whole affair in Commines, it is curious to
notice the colour which the king gave to it in the eyes of his
subjects, in order to keep them in ignorance of the dangers
he had incurred by his own fault, and of the excess of
humiliation to which he had been subjected by his less wily
rival.
In many other respects, this Chronicle is no less valuable
and instructive. It is not only remarkable for many curious
traits characteristic of its individual author ; but it contains
interesting details of the manners and customs, of the habits
and domestic life, of the Parisians, and of the view they took
of contemporary events. Indeed, no existing work supplies
us with a better picture of Paris as it was towards the end
of the fifteenth century.
As Jean de Troyes for the most part relates only what he
L 4
296 editor's preface.
heard, and was seldom an e)'ewitness of the occurrence*
which he chronicles, there are many errors in his memoirs ;
hut these may easily be rectified by reference to the parallel
passages in Commines, where they have not been expressly
corrected in the noies.
A. E. SCOP LB.
C!)e 5>ranfcaIousf C(rimfde«
THE CHRONICLES
OP THE
VERY CHRISTIAN AND VERY VICTORIOUS
LOUIS OF VALOIS,
LATE KING OF FRANCE (WHOM
GOD ABSOLVE),
TABIOU8 OTHER ADVENTURES WHICH OCCURRED BOTH IN THE REALM
OF FRANCE AND IN NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES, FROM THE
TEAR 1460 UNTIL 1-483, INCLUSIVELY
To the honour and praise of God, our sweet Saviour and
Redeemer, and the blessed glorious Virgin Mary, without
whose assistance no good works can be performed. Knowing
that several kings, princes, counts, barons, prelates, noble-
men, ecclesiastics, and abundance of the common people, are
often pleased and delighted in hearing and reading the sur-
prising histories of wonderful things that have happened in
divers places both of this and other Christian states and
kingdoms, I have applied myself with abundance of pleasure,
from the 3oth year of my age, instead of spending my time
in sloth and idleness, to writing a history of several remark-
able accidents and adventures that happened in France, an.d
in other neighbouring kingdoms, as far as my memory would
permit me; but especially from the year 1460, in the reign
of Charles VII., to the death of Louis XI., his son, who
died on the 30th of August, in the ye;ir 1483. However,
I neither design nor expect that tins historical essay of mine
298 THE sCANDALOLS CI1KONICLE. [1460
should be called a Chronicle, being wholly unfit for so
bold an undertaking ; neither indeed was I ever employed
or permitted to write one; but what I have here ventured
to record, is purely by way of amusement to please and
divert those who will give themselves the trouble of reading
it or hearing it read ; whom I also humbly entreat to excuse,
and supply my ignorance, by correcting and altering what-
ever they find amiss ; for abundance of these remarkable
accidents have happened after so very different and so
strange a manner, that it would have been a very difficult
task, either for me or any other writer, to have given an
exact and particular account of every thing that happened
during so long a period of time.
1460.
And first of all, then, I must speak concerning the good-
ness and fertility of the earth in the year 1460, which was
so prodigiously fruitful throughout the whole kingdom of
France, and bore such plenteous crops of corn, that at the
very dearest time a quarter of wheat was sold for only
twenty-four Parisian sols ; but there was a great scarcity of
fruit, and as for the vines, there was but little wine, espe-
cially in the Isle of France, so that they had scarce an hogs-
head to every acre of ground, but the wine was extraor-
dinarily good, and that which grew in the fat vineyards
round Paris was sold very dear, and bore the price of ten or
eleven crowns a hogshead.
About that time several poor indigent wretches that were
guilty of thieving, sacrilege, house-breaking, and other
enormous crimes, were made an example of, and severely
punished at Paris ; amongst whom some were only whipped
at the cart's tail, and afterwards pardoned, as being their
first offence ; and others, who were old offenders, and had
been often guilty of crimes of the like nature, were con-
demned to be hanged, and executed accordingly-
Much about that time also a certain woman, named
Perrette Mauger, was condemned to be burnt alive for
having committed several robberies, and for harbouring and
concealing several notorious thieves and house-breakers, who
had committed divers robberies in and about Paris ; as also
for having sold and disposed of the said goods that were
1460.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 299
stolen by these thieves, and sharing with them the money
that arose from the sale thereof: for which crimes, and
several others besides, which she confessed at last, she was
condemned by M. Rohert Destouteville, mayor of Paris, to
be burnt alive at the stake before the gallows, and all her
goods and chattels to be forfeited to the king. From which
sentence she formally appealed to the court of parliament,
upon the account of which appeal her execution was de-
ferred for some time ; but after the parliament had examined
into her trial, they confirmed the above-mentioned sentence,
and having declared that the said Perrette Mauger had no
manner of grounds for her appeal, ordered it immediately to
be executed ; upon wlrich she declared herself to be with
child, which deferred the execution a little longer ; and
presently a jury of midwives and matrons was impannelled,
and ordered to search her, who, upon a strict examination,
reported to the judges that she was not breeding, upon which
report she was immediately ordered to be burnt before the
gallows by Henry Cousin, hangman of Paris.
Strange Adventures that happened in England in the same
Year, 1460.
In this year the Pope sent a legate into England, who
preached to the people of that country, but especially in
London, the chief city of that kingdom ; where he made
several remonstrances to the inhabitants of that and the
adjacent parts, much to the prejudice, and contrary to the
interest of, Henry VI., king of England ; which remon-
strances the Cardinal of York, who accompanied the legate,
explained in their own language, with a long exposition on
the same. Upon which the common people, who were
wavering and fickle enough at the best, began to rise up in
rebellion against King Henry, and his queen, daughter of
Rene, King of Sicily and Jerusalem, and their son the
Prince of Wales. The common people chose the Earl of
Warwick for their head, who was governor of Calais, in the
room of Richard, Duke of York, who pretended to be king,
and boldly maintained the kingdom of England belonged to
him, as being the next heir of the family of King Richard
1L A little time afterwards the Duke of York, who had
300 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1460,
assembled a great number of tbe populace in arms, took the
field, and marched directly to a park where Henry VI. was
attended by several dukes, princes, and other lords, all in
arms also. There were eight avenues that led to this park,
and these were guarded by eight barons of the kingdom, all
of them traitors and rebels to King Henry ; who, as soon as
they were informed of the Duke of York's arrival, imme-
diately gave him admittance into the park, with the Earl of
Warwick, and several others, who went directly to the place
where the King was, whom without any farther ceremony*
they seized upon. Immediately after this action, they slew
several princes and great lords of the blood royal that were
with him. When the Earl of Warwick had so done, he took
King Henry and brought him directly to London, carrying
the naked sword before him, as if he had been his constable;
and, upon his arrival at London, he led him straight to the
Tower, in which there were four barons of the kingdom of
King Henry's party, that were kept prisoners there ; to
whom King Henry some time after, and the Earl of War-
wick, gave very fair words, and released them out of the
Tower, after they had solemnly promised them that their
persons should be protected from all manner of danger
whatsoever, and in confidence of these fair promises they
consented to go out of the Tower. But as they were leading
these four barons after King Henry and the Earl of Warwick,
there happened to be an insurrection of the mob, and some
of them came and killed one of the barons, and gave him
several blows and contusions ; and the next day, notwith-
standing all the fine promises that were made them, the
three other barons were executed on Tower-hill.
At the same time there arose a great quarrel between the
king's officers belonging to the Court of Aids, and one of the
beadles of the University of Paris, for some affront the said
beadle had given to two counsellors of the same court ; for
* Thomas, the son of Edward Talbot of Lancashire, apprehended
King Henry VI. as he sat at dinner at Waddington Hall in Cleather-
wood, in Lancashire; and, forgetting all respect due to so great a
prince, like a common malefactor, with his legs tied under his horse's
belly, guarded him up towards London. By the way the earl of War-
wick met him, who arrested him. and taking off his gilt spurs, led him
prisoner to the Tower. — Old note
1460.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 301
which misdemeanor the said beadle was put into the common
gaol of Paris ; which method of proceeding the whole Uni-
versity highly resented, and were so extremely displeased
with it, that, till the affair was accommodated, and the
beadle restored to his liberty, they refused either to preach,
pray, or read to the people ; but, upon his enlargement,
they were well satisfied, and performed their usual duty.
About this time a certain person, called Anthony the
Bastard of Burgundy, came into Paris in a disguise, and
staid there only one day and a night; and when the inhabit-
ants of the city were informed of his coming in that manner,
several officers and men of note could not imagine what
should be the meaning of it, and immediately despatched
certain persons to carry the news of it to the king, who
spoke very favourably of the citizens, and declared they
were not in the least privy to his coming in that clandestine
way. Upon which the king in all haste sent the Marshal
de Loheac, and M. John Bureau, Treasurer of France, to
inquire into the truth of the relation that was brought him,
and to take all the care imaginable to prevent whatever
designs this emissary of the house of Burgundy might have
formed in the city. At the same time also the citizens of
Paris, (to free themselves from all manner of suspicion of
their consenting to his coming incognito,) deputed some of
the chief of their citizens, among whom were M. John de
Lolive, Doctor of Divinity, and the Chancellors of the
Church of Paris, Nicholas de Louviers, M. John Clerebourg,
Master of the Mint ; M. John Lullier, Town Clerk ; James
Kebours, Attorney ; John Volant, Merchant, and several
others, to represent the matter fairly to the king. His
majesty received them very graciously ; and, after they had
ended their speech, which was made to clear their innocence,
he was extremely well satisfied with them, and having given
them a very mild and gracious answer, they returned to
Paris with great joy and gladness of heart.
At that time M. Robert Destouteville, who was mayor of
Paris, was committed prisoner to the Bastille, and afterwards
to the Louvre, by the command of the Marshal de Loheac
and M. John Bureau ; for some injustice and abuses he had
committed in the exercise of his office, though it was never
fairly proved upon him. About that time also several ruda
302 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1460.
and uncivil actions were committed by M. John Advin,
counsellor of the parliament of Paris, in the liouse of the
said Destouteville, such as searching of boxes, trunks, and
other places for letters ; not to mention the several incivi-
lities he offered to the Lady Amhroise de Lore, his wife,
who was a woman of great virtue, honour, and wisdom.
In this year the rivers Seine and Marne were swollen
so prodigiously, that in one night's time the Marne rose
above six feet high about St. Maur des-Fossez, and did a
great deal of damage in several places ; but among the
rest, the river came up so high in a village called Claye, in
which there was a palace belonging to the Bishop of Meaux,
that it washed away all the brick-work of the front of it,
where there were two stately towers newly erected, in which
there were fine and large apartments richly furnished and
adorned with tapestry, pictures, &c, but the river swept all
away.
About that time also it happened, that the body of the
church of Fecamp in Normandy was burnt down to the
ground by a fiery exhalation that came from the sea towards
the Marches of Cornwall ; and caught hold of the steeple of
the said abbey which was quite consumed, and all the bells
melted down, to the great loss and detriment of the abbot
and his whole fraternity.
At the same time there was a great noise and discourse all
over the kingdom of France, and other places, of a young
girl of about eighteen years of age, who lived in the city of
Mans, and played several ridiculous pranks and follies ;
such as foaming at the mouth, leaping into the air, screaming
out aloud, putting her body into a thousand convulsive mo-
tions, and pretending to be tormented by the devil; by
which antic tricks, and several others too tedious to mention
here, she imposed upon and cheated abundance of people
that came to see her. But at last she was discovered to be
an idle hussy, and that she played all her devilish pranks by
the instigation and contrivance of some of the officers be-
longing to the Bishop of Mans, who maintained her for that
purpose ; and had so far brought her to their beck, that she
would do anything they bid her, and they had trained her up
from her infancy to play these pranks.
About the same time it happened in England, some time
1460.1 THE SCANDALOUS CnROMCLE. 303
after the Earl of Warwick's seizing upon the person of King
Henry, that the Duke of Somerset the king's cousin, in con-
junction with several young noblemen, relations and heirs to
those who were slain at the taking of King Henry, having
got together a considerable body of men, took the field, and
marched directly against the Duke of York, found him en-
camped in the plains of St. Albans*, where they gave him
battle, and cut him and his whole army to pieces. In this
battle the Duke of York was slain himself, and when his
body was found they cut off his head, and by way of derision,
because he pretended to the crown of England, they fixed it
upon the point of a lance, and put a crown of straw in the
form of a royal crown upon it. With him there fell in the
battle six and twenty barons, knights, esquires, and persons
of note in the kingdom ; besides a great number of common
soldiers, amounting in all to above eight or nine thousand
men.
And on Wednesday the third of February in the same
year 1460, were read and published at Rouen, and in several
other places in the duchy of Normandy, in the public
market-places by sound of trumpet, the king's letters patent ;
by which he declared it was his royal will and pleasure that
the whole country of Normandy, together with its seaports,
should be free and open to all English men and women, of
what rank or condition soever ; and in what habit soever
they shall think fit to wear, (provided they were of King
Henry's party,) and without having any passport, to have
free liberty of trade and commerce throughout his whole
kingdom.
* The battle was not fought at St. Albans, but at Wakefield in
Yorkshire, on the 30th of December, 1460, in which the Duke of
York was killed, and afterwards had his head cut off, and by way
of derision a crown of paper, not of straw, as our author writes, sit
upon it, and presented to Queen Margaret, who not long after sent
it with the heads of other lords to be fixed upon poles over the gate
of the city of York. The person that committed this ungenerous action
was the Lord Clifford, who, after the battle of Wakefield, in cold
blood murdered the young Eurl of Rutland, the Duke of York's third
Bon. — Old note.
304 THE SCANDALOUS CIIKONICLfi. [1461.
1461.
In the year 1461, in the month of July, it happened that
King Charles VII. fell sick at the castle of Meun upon the
Yevre, of a distemper that was incurable, and of which he
died on Wednesday the 22nd of July, between one and two
o'clock, in the afternoon, much lamented by the whole king-
dom ; as being a very wise and valiant prince, and leaving
his kingdom in a very peaceful and flourishing condition.
Immediately after the death of the king was publicly
known, the greatest part of the officers of Paris, and several
others of the kingdom, went to pay their respects to the
Dauphin, who resided at the Duke of Burgundy's court at
Hainault; and who by the decease of his father came to the
crown of France. The occasion of their waiting on him
there, was, to know his royal will and pleasure ; and whether
they should be continued in the same posts and employments
they enjoyed under his father : At which place after his
death he made a promotion of several officers in the chamber
of accounts or exchequer, at Paris : Amongst the rest, he
made M. Peter l'Orfevre Lord of Ermenonville and Nicholas
de Louviers counsellors of the same exchequer, and M.
John Baillet master of the requests and reporter of the
court of chancery : He also confirmed M. Simon Charles,
who was carried in a litter into Hainault, in the place he
was possessed of in the exchequer : and the rest of the
officers that came thither to beg the favour of being con-
tinued in their respective posts and employments, were or-
dered back to Paris to wait for the king's coming thither.
And upon the 24th of July, 1461, M. Etienne Chevalier,
who was treasurer or chief director of the finances in the
reign of the late King Charles, and whom he appointed to be
one of the executors of his last will and testament, and also
M. Dreux Bude, the grand audiencier* of France, went
from Paris to see the king's corpse that lay in state at
Meun ; but the Lord d'Aigreville, captain of Montargis, at
the earnest solicitation of a certain gentleman named Vuaste
de Morpedon, caused them both to be seized at Montargis ;
where they remained prisoners for some time, till the king
* One of the chief officers of the Chancery of France, who examine*
all 1c ters-patent, &c, before they pass the seals.
1461.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 305
Bent orders for their release, and continued them both in
their respective employments of treasurer and audiencier.
But it was very observable, that on the 23rd of July, in
1461, which was the next day after the king's death, a large
blazing star was seen in the sky about seven o'clock at night,
which cast such a glaring and resplendent light through the
air, that all Paris seemed to be in a flame ; but Heaven in
its mercy has been still pleased to preserve that good city.
On Thursday the 6th of August, 1461, the body of the
late King Charles VII. was brought from Meun with great
solemnity, to the Church of Notre-Dame in the Fields, with-
out the gates of Paris ; and the next day the clergy, no«
bility, officers, citizens, and abundance of the populace re-
paired thither, and conducted it from thence to Paris, with
a great deal of pomp, ceremony, and respect, as is usual
upon such occasions. The funeral procession was thus re-
gulated. Before the corpse were borne two hundred wax-
candles of four pounds each, adorned and painted with the
arms of France, and carried by two hundred inferior persons
dressed in long mourning robes and black caps. The body
was borne in a litter by the salt-porters of Paris, and it was
lined and covered with a rich cloth of gold, valued at one
thousand two hundred crowns of gold ; and upon the top of
it was placed the effigies of the late king Charles dressed in
his royal robes, with a crown on his head, holding in one
hand a sceptre, and in the other a regal truncheon. And in
this state it was carried to the great Church of Notre-Dame
in Paris ; all the bellmen of the. city clothed also in black,
and bearing on each side of their gowns the arms of France,
marching before it ; and after them came ihose that bore
the candles, adorned and painted with the same arms, before
the litter. After the litter came the Duke of Orleans and
the Count d'Angouleme as chief mourners, accompanied by
the Counts d'Eu and Dunois ; M. John Jouvenelle des
Ursins, knight and chancellor of France, and the master of
the horse ; all clothed in deep mourning, and mounted on
horseback. Next to them marched all the officers of the
household to the late king, on foot, by two and two, dressed
in deep mourning also ; and close to the litter rode six pages
in black upon six fine horses covered all over with black
velvet, which was a very dismal and melancholy Bight to
VOL. U. X
306 THE SCANDALOUS CHliONlCLE. [1461
behold. And there was such an universal concern and la»
mentation for his death, that scarce a dry eye was left in the
whole city ; nay, it is reported, that one of his pages took
nis master's death so to heart, that for four whole days toge-
ther Le neither ate nor drank anything. The next day,
which was the 9th of August, his body was removed from
the Church of Notre-Dame, in Paris, about three in the
afternoon, and carried with the above-mentioned pomp and
ceremony to St. Denis, where it was deposited, and now
lies.
Towards the end of this month our most gracious sove-
reign Louis XI., then only dauphin and eldest son of Charles
VII. lately deceased, was crowned King of France at
Rheims by the Archbishop Jouvenal, where he was attended
by the greatest part of the nobility of his kingdom.
Upon the last day of this month of August, the king set
out from an hotel named Les Porcherons, which was in the
suburbs near the gate of St. Honore, belonging to M. John
Bureau, who was knighted at his coronation at Rheims, in
order to make his public entry into Paris ; upon which the
whole body of the nobility, clergy, and gentry came out to
pay their homage to him, and welcome him to their city ;
amongst whom were the Bishop of Paris named William
Chartier, the whole University, the Court of Parliament,
the Mayor of Paris, all the officers of the Exchequer, and the
provost of the merchants, with the aldermen in their damask
robes lined with sables. And the mayor and aldermen,
after they had saluted and paid their respects to the king,
presented him with the keys of the city gates, through which
he was to make his entry, which lie very graciously returned ;
and then the way was ordered to be cleared, to make room
for others to approach his majesty, and make their compli-
ment to him, of which number he made a great many
knights on the spot. As the king passed through the gate
of St. Denis, he found near the Church of St. Ladre a
herald mounted on horseback, and clothed in the city livery,
who presented to him five ladies on the part of the city,
richly dressed, and mounted on five fine horses sumptuously
accoutred with rich furniture, on which were embroidered
the city arms ; and these five ladies were habited after a sort
of manner representing the five letters of Paris, and every
146!.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 307
one of them made a speech to the king, which was prepared
for tliem beforehand.
There was a very great appearance at the king's public
entry into Paris, both of his own nobility, and of foreign
princes and noblemen, amongst whom were the Dukes of
Orleans, Burgundy, Bourbon, and Cleves, the Count de
Charolois, the Duke of Burgundy's eldest son, the Counts
d'Angouleme, St. Paul, and Dunois, besides several other
earls, barons, knights, captains, and a great number of per-
sons of note and distinction, who, in honour of the day, and
to augment the splendour and magnificence of the triumphal
entry, had bestowed vast sums in rich and costly furniture,
with which their horses were caparisoned : some of their
housings were of the richest cloth of gold, made after dif-
ferent fashions, and lined with sables ; others were of crimson
velvet, lined with ermine or rich damask, embroidered with
gold and silver, and hung round with great silver bells, which
were of a considerable value ; and upon the horses rode fine
young pages, the very flower of youth and beauty, richly
dressed, and wearing embroidered scarfs over their
shoulders, that hung down to the crupper, which made a
very noble and gallant show.
The Parisians on this occasion caused a very fine ship to
be cast in silver, which was borne aloft upon men's shoulders,
and just as the king made his entry through the gate of St.
Denis, it was placed upon the drawbridge near the said
gate, to represent the city arms. In it were placed three
persons representing the three estates of the kingdom ; and
in the stern and the poop sat two more personating justice
and equity; and out of the scuttle, which was formed in the
shape of a fleur-de-lis, issued a king dressed in royal robes,
and attended by two angels. A little farther, at the fountain
du Ponceau, there were wild men that played the parts of
gladiators, and near them were placed three handsome
wenches, representing mermaids, sporting and singing gay
enlivening airs, which were humoured and accompanied with
the melodious harmony of soft music. And to comfort and
refresh the people, there were several pipes in the said
fountain that ran milk, wine, and hippocras, of which every
one drank what he pleased ; and a little below the fountain,
the passion of our Saviour was represented as he was crucified
X 2
30S THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1161.
between two thieves. At a little distance from tins crucifix
there were posted a band of men richly dressed, representing
hunters that had just run down a stag, whose death was
accompanied with the melodious noise of dogs and horns ;
and in the Rue de la Boucherie there were large scaffolds
erected in the form of the Bastile at Dieppe. And when
the king had passed by them, the English who were within
the Bastile were furiously attacked by the king's soldiers,
taken prisoners, and had all their throats cut. Opposite to
the gate of the Chastellet there was a fine appearance of
persons of quality ; all the windows were hung with rich
tapestry, and the streets through which the king passed were
crowded with a prodigious number of people. In this pomp-
ous manner he proceeded to the Church of Notre-Dame ;
and having performed his devotions to the blessed Virgin, he
returned to his royal palace, where he had a splendid and mag-
nificent entertainment, and lay there that night. The next
morning, which was the first of September in the year 1461,
he removed from thence into his Hotel des Tournelles, near
the Bastile de St. Antoine, where he staid some time, during
which he made several acts and ordinances, and turned
several of the officers of his kingdom out of their posts and em-
ployments, amongst the rest the Chancellor Juvenal des
Ursins, the marshal, the admiral, the first president of the
Court of Parliament, and the provost of Paris, and put new
ones in their places.
He also made a new regulation in all his courts of justice
and offices belonging to the crown, especially in the Ex-
chequer, Treasury, and the Mint, turning out abundance
of counsellors, secretaries, receivers-general, clerks, and
other officers of an inferior nature, and putting others in
their room.
The 3rd of September, 1461, the king, attended by some
of the lords and gentlemen of his court, was entertained at
supper in the house of one M. William de Corbie, a coun-
sellor of the court of Parliament, whom he made President,
of Dauphiny that very night. There were abundance of
fine ladies and honest citizens' wives to see the king at
supper ; and during his stay at Paris he ordered several
feasts and entertainments to be made in divers places of the
city on purpose to treat and divert them.
About this time it happened, that a beautiful young
1464 ] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 309
Troman named Joan du Bois, wife to a certain officer belong-
ing to the Chastellet of Paris, made an elopement from her
husband, but afterwards, by the counsel and advice of his in-
timate friends, he took her home again. She became a very
good woman, and lived a sober and virtuous life with her
husband afterwards.
1462-3.
In the years 1462 and 1463 nothing material or worth
recording happened, and therefore I have passed them over
in silence. And as for the year 1463, as I have already
observed, there was nothing happened in it worth taking
notice of, unless it was the shortness of the winter and the
length of the summer, which was extremely pleasant, and
very favourable to the vines, so that we had plenty of good
wine that year, but a great scarcity of all other fruits of the
earth.
1464.
In the year 1464, upon Tuesday the 15th of May, the
king came from Nogent le Roy, where the queen was
brought to bed of a young princess ; and on the same day in
the evening supped at the house of M. Charles d'Orgemont
Lord of Mery, and from thence he set out for the frontiers
of Picardy, where he expected to have found the ambas-
sadors whom Edward King of England had promised to
send thither to him, but they never came ; whereupon the
king left Picardy and made a progress to Rouen, and several
other places in Normandy. About that time it happened
that a small vessel of Dieppe was seized upon the coast of
Holland by some of the Duke of Burgundy's ships, in which
there was a person named the Bastard of Rubempre, who, with
the rest of the ship's crew, was immediately clapped into
prison, upon pretence that their design of hovering about
those parts was purely to seize upon the person of the Count
de Charolois: and this report the Flemings spread abroad
everywhere, but there was nothing in it.
About that time the king set out from Normandy in his
return to Nogent, from whence he went to visit Tours,
Chinon, and Poitiers, at which place arrived the deputies
that were sent by the city of Paris to desire his majesty to
X 3
310 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1464.
grant them farther privileges ; but all they were able to
obtain of him was, only to be exempted from a small tax
called the Foreign Impost, which was no great matter ; and
even that small gift they did not enjoy, for the clerks
of the Exchequer, to whom their letters patent were di-
rected, were negligent, and would not despatch their business
in time. The ambassadors of the Duke of Bretagne were
likewise to wait on him there, whom he heard upon several
articles that were brought him in relation to the affair
between the duke and him ; which articles, or at least the
greatest part of them, were granted and allowed by his
majesty ; and by those articles of agreement the said ambas-
sadors did promise and engage that their master the Duke of
Bretagne should wait on his majesty, either at Poitiers or
elsewhere, to confirm and ratify the said articles. After
which, the ambassadors took their leave of the king, pre-
tending to return into Bretagne; but they did quite the con-
trary, as you will find hereafter. The day they set out
from Poitiers, which was Saturday, they went but four
leagues, where they stayed till the Monday following ; and
upon Sunday the Duke of Berry, the king's own brother,
departed from Poitiers also, and lay that night with the
ambassadors, who received him with abundance of kindness
and civility, and the next morning early in great haste they
all set out together for Bretagne, fearing lest the king
should be informed of his brother's going with them, and
upon that account follow them: besides the Count deDunois
was already arrived at the Duke of Bretagne's court, which
would be apt to give the king a suspicion of some secret
designs on foot against him.
Soon after the departure of these ambassadors, the Duke
of Bourbon declares war against the king, and invades his
dominions, seizing upon whatever belonged to the king, in
his territories, and putting the Lord de Croussol, a great
favourite of the king's, under an arrest. This Lord de
Croussol was only passing through his country with his lady
and the rest of his family ; however, they were all of them
arrested and confined in the city of Cosne in Bourbonnois.
After this, William Juvenal des Ursins Lord of Traynel,
formerly chancellor of France, and M. Peter Doriollc the
late treasurer, were also arrested ia the citj of Moulin8|
1164.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. oil
where they endured a Ion? imprisonment ; but at last the
Duke of Bourbon released them, and gave them liberty to
go back to the king.
On Sunday the 12th of March, in the year 1464, after
the Duke of Berry's departure from Poitiers, Anthony
Chabannes Count de Dammartin, who was a prisoner in
the Bastile de St. Antoine, made his escape and fled into
Berry and Bourbonnois, where he was kindly received.
But several who were suspected to have been accessary to his
escape, were immediately committed to prison.
On Wednesday the 15th of March, M. Charles de Melun
the king's lieutenant, M. John Balue Bishop of Evreux, and
M. John le Prevost, with the king's secretary, met together
in the Hotel de Ville, where they caused several articles, that
the king had given them in charge, to be read ; and after the
reading was over, they made several acts and ordinances for
the better defence and security of the city. Amongst the rest,
there was a particular order to appoint a strong watch to
guard the city gates by night, to shut them at a fixed
hour, to have iron chains fastened at the end of every street,
to bar them up upon any occasion ; and several others,
which being too long to be inserted here, I shall for brevity's
sake omit them.
But after the escape of the Count de Dammartin, the
king found out a stratagem to surprise the two strong places
of Fourgeau and Morue, which were defended by Jeflery
Coeur, son of the late Jacques Coeur, whom he made prisoner,
and seized upon all the riches he found in them.
As soon as this business was over, the king, attended by
the King of Sicily and the Lord du Maine, marched towards
Angers and Pont de Ce, to demand of those who had so
basely deserted him what reasons induced them to retire
and withdraw themselves into Bretagne. He ordered his
arm}', which was chiefly composed of the standing forces of
the kingdom, and amounted to twenty or thirty thousand
men, immediately to follow him ; but after he had been
there for some time, and found he could not possibly finish
the war on that side so soon as he expected, he marched
with a strong detachment and some cannon into the duchy
of Berry, towards Yssoudun, Viarzon, Dreux, and other
neighbouring towns, leaving the King of Sicily and the
x 4
312 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1465.
Count du Maine with a good body of troops to defend and
guard the passes, and to hinder the Bretons from pene-
trating either into Normandy, or into an)' other part of his
kingdom.
The king made hut a short stay in the Duchy of Berry,
and from thence he marched into Bourbonnois, leaving the
city of Bourges behind him, in which there was a strong
garrison commanded by Monsieur the Duke of Bourbon's
bastard, who held it for the Duke of Berry. He marched into
Bourbonnois, where the town and castle of St. Aniant Lalier
were taken by storm on the day of our Lord's ascension, and
a little after the town and castle of Molucon surrendered
upon articles of capitulation, in which were James de Bour-
bon with about thirty-five lances, who took an oath never to
bear arms against the king again, upon which they were
suffered to march out without being plundered, and had the
liberty of going where they pleased.
Upon Ascension-eve the Chancellor Traynel, M. Estienne
Chevalier, Nicholas de Louviers, and M. John de Molins
arrived at Paris, by whom the king wrote to his good people
and citizens of that place, thanking them for their good in-
clinations and loyalty to him, exhorting them to continue
firm and steadfast in their allegiance, and commanding them
to conduct the que^n safe to Paris, where he would have her
lie in, as he loved that city above any in his kingdom.
1465.
On Thursday the 30th of May, in 1465, it happened that
one John de Hure, merchant of the city of Sens, came with
his nephew and some other company to lodge in a mill,
which was called the Little Mill, on the other side of Moret
in Gastinois ; and about midnight thirty or forty horse, well
armed, came and beat up their quarters, plundered them of
all they had, and carried away the merchant and his whole
company prisoners. At the same time the king ordered the
bridges of Chamois and Beaumont on the Oise, with several
others, to be broken, down.
About that time the Bastard of Burgundy and the Mar-
shal of Burgundy, with a considerable body of the Count de
Chaiolois's forces, invaded the king's dominions, and took
1465.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 318
from him the towns of Roye and Montdidier. Upon which
the Count de Neversand Joachim Rouault Marshal of France,
who were in Peronne with a garrison of about four thousand
men, retired with part of them to Noyon and Compiegne,
leaving some of the nobility with about five hundred Frank
archers in Peronne for its defence.
At the same time the king, who was then in Bourbonnois,
left that country and retired to St. Poursain, whither his
sister the Duchess of Bourbon and Auvergne came also to
wait on him, being extremely concerned at the difference
that there was between the king her brother and her husband
the Duke of Bourbon, and she hoped by that means to have ac-
commodated matters between them ; but it was not in her
power to do it. In the mean time, however, the Duke of
Bourbon evacuated Moulins, and retired to Riom.
About this time came orders for the besieging of St.
Maurice, which the Count de Dammartin obstinately held
against the king. M. Charles de Melun, Bailiff of Sens,
with several others of the same corporation, had the di-
rection of that siege, but finding the body of men that were
under their command too weak for such an undertaking, M.
Anthony Bailiff of Melun was ordered thither with a
strong reinforcement of archers and cross-bow-men from
Paris, and upon the arrival of these forces, the count beat
a retreat, and surrendered the town upon articles of capitu-
lation.
On the 25th of June, it was ordered by the magistrates of
Paris assembled in the Hotel de Ville. that the streets should
be unchained, but that the iron chains should still remain
hanging at the corner of every street to which they be-
longed, in order to have them in a readiness upon any oc-
casion; that persons should be deputed to examine what con-
dition they were in, and if they wanted mending to get
them instantly repaired, and keep them always fit for ser-
vice ; which was accordingly done. There was also another
order issued out, by which every citizen was obliged to take
arms, and to lay in a stock of provision and ammunition for
the defence of the city in case of need; and this order
was sent in writing to every particular housekeeper in
Paris.
It was much about this time that a great body of Burgun*
314 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [14G&
dians, Picardians, and of other nations subject to the Count
de Charolois, marched into France as far as Pont St. Maxence,
which one Madre, who was the govornor of it, delivered up
to the Count de Charolois for a certain sum of money : upon
which he advanced with his army into the Isle of France,
where he committed great ravages and devastations, notwith-
standing he pretended this war was undertaken purely for
the public good, and to free the subjects of France from the
tyranny of their king.
Soon after this business of Pont St. Maxence, the Bur-
gundians took Beaulieu, which a party of the Marshal Joa-
chim's own regiment had a long time defended, and held
out against them ; who at last surrendered upon articles,
and marched out with bag and baggage, and the usual
marks of honour.
And as soon as the Burgundians had entered the Isle of
France, they dispersed themselves in small bodies all over
the county, and took Dammartin, Nantouillet, Villemonble,
and several other inconsiderable places, and afterwards at
Laigny they committed great disorders and outrages, tearing
and burning all the papers relating to the public accounts of
the province, ordering that all commodities should be free
from taxes in the town, and commanding the salt which was
stored up in the public granaries for the king's use, to be
given to whomsoever had occasion for it, upon paying custom
for it.
About this time the king, who was in Bourbonnois, laid
siege to Riom, in Auvergne, in which were the Duke of
Bourbon and Nemours, the Count dArmagnac, the Lord
Albret, and several other persons of note. Tne king had,
at that time when he invested the town, the finest army that
ever was seen ; having, in all, including the nobility and
persons of note and distinction, above 24,000 effective men of
regidar troops.
And, on Wednesday, the 4th of July, in the same year,
the king, who was still before Riom, wrote letters to M.
Charles Melun, his lieutenant in Paris, the Marshal Joa-
chim, and the citizens of Paris, which he sent by M. Charles
de Charlay, the captain of the watch ; and in these letters
he heartily thanked his good citizens of Paris for their stead-
fastness and loyalty to his person, desiring and exhorting
1465.] TIIE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 315
them to continue in their duty and allegiance, and assuring
them that within fifteen days he would be at Paris, with his
whole army. He also ordered the said Charles de Charlay
to acquaint them by word of mouth of certain terms and
articles of agreement that he had made with the Dukes of
Bourbon and Nemours, and the Lords d'Armagnac and
Albret, and how by the compact all and every of them had
solemnly and sincerely promised henceforth never to bear
arms against him, but to live and die in his service ; and
that the said dukes and lords above-mentioned had faith-
fully promised to do their duty, in endeavouring to persuade
the other lords that were engaged in the confederacy to
accept of the same terms of accommodation ; and that the
four above-mentioned lords had agreed to send, before the
feast of August, their ambassadors to the king at Paris, in
order to treat of peace ; and that if they could not induce
the other lords en^a^ed in the same confederacy to hearken
to a peace, they had solemnly vowed and sworn to keep the
promise they had made of never bearing arms against the
king, but to live and die in defence of him and his king-
dom. And, that, as a farther confirmation of this promise,
the above-mentioned lords had caused it to be registered
by two public notaries at Mossiat, near Riom, agreeing and
consenting to be excommunicated, provided they, or either
of them, should act to the contrary.
On the Friday following, a large body of the Count de
Charolois's forces, the greatest part of them Burgundians,
arrived at St. Denis, from whence they sent a detachment
to Point St. Cloud, in hopes of making themselves masters of
it, but not being able to effect their project, they marched
back to St. Denis.
On Sunday, the 12th of July, 1465, the Burgundians
appeared before Paris, but finding they could not carry
their point, they retired to St. Denis with the loss of a
few men, who were endeavouring to scale the walls.
On Monday, the 8th of August, the Burgundians came
a second time before Paris, with all their artillery and
heavy cannon ; but before their army appeared in sight of
the town, they sent four heralds to the Gate of St. Denis,
at which M. Peter l'Orfevre, Lord of Ermenonville, and M.
John de Pompaincourt, Lord of Cercelles, commanded as
816 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [H65.
captains of the guards that day. Their pretended message
was to demand provision for their army, and a free admit-
tance into Paris in a peaceful and friendly manner; and to
let the citizens know, that if they refused to grant their
demands, they would enter the town by force, and give it
Up to be plundered hy their soldiers.
Scarce had the four heralds delivered their message, when
the Burgundians (who thought to have surprised the town,
and cut in pieces the guard that defended the gate of St.
Denis, without giving the citizens time to return an an-
swer) appeared with a considerable body of forces, and
penetrating as far as St. Ladre, were in hopes of getting
within the barriers that led to that gate, which they designed
to have forced with their cannon and other warlike engines:
but the citizens made a vigorous resistance, and the Mar-
shal Joachim with his own regiment gave them a very warm
reception ; so that the Burgundians finding that they could
not succeed in their design, retired to their camp, with the
loss of abundance of men killed and wounded. Immediately
their whole army invested the town, in which they did great
execution with their cannon, culverins, and other warlike en-
gines, and killed and wounded a great many men. During
this bombardment, there was a cowardly rascal of a bailiff
named Casin Chollet, that ran up and down the streets, like
one frightened out of his wits, crying out, " Get you into
your houses, O Parisians, and shut the doors, for the Bur-
gundians are entered the town ;" which put the inhabitants
into so dreadful a consternation, that several women with
child miscarried, and others died of the fright.
No action happened before Paris on the Tuesday follow-
ing, only the Count de St. Paul, who was at St. Denis,
with the Count de Charolois, marched from thence with a de-
tachment of Picardians and Burgundians, in order to possess
himself of Point St. Cloud; but the project failed at that time.
And on the Wednesday following, there arrived in his camp
a fine train of artillery, consisting of about fifty or sixty
pieces of cannon, which the Count de Charolois had ordered
to be sent him ; and on the same day, n brigade of M. Peter
de Breze's regiment marched out of Paris, to intercept the
Burgundians in their march to St. Cloud, two of whom they
killed, and took five prisoners ; one of whom received so
1465.] THE SCANDALOUS CHKONTCLE. 317
terrible a blow as clove his head asunder, and the fore part
of it hung down by a bit of skin upon his breast. The
Burgundians also took an archer, servant to M. John Noyer,
of the same regiment; and in the evening they made a
vigorous attack upon St. Cloud, and storming the outworks,
put the garrison, who held it for the king, into such a con-
sternation, that they agreed to capitulate, and surrendered
the town immediately upon condition to be safely conducted
to Paris, and to deliver up the five Burgundians they had
taken that day ; and for performance of these articles, host-
ages were exchanged on both sides.
On the Friday following, the magistrates of Paris held a
great council in the Hotel de Ville, to advise and consider what
answer they should return to the Burgundians, who re-
quired of them to send some commissioners to treat with
the Count de Charolois, who would privately inform them,
by word of mouth, of the reasons that had induced him to
take up arms against the king. At last, after some debate,
they resolved to acquaint the Count de Charolois with their
resolution of sending some commissioners (provided he
would send them a passport to Paris), to treat with him,
and to hear what propositions he had to make ; letting him
know, at the same time, that they would communicate what-
ever he had to offer, either to the king, who was at Orleans,
or to his privy council at Paris; who might return what
an-wer they thought most proper in the present posture of
affairs. The same day, about six in the evening, two heralds
from the Count de Charolois came to the gate of St. Honore
for the answer you have already heard ; who were told, that
if the Count de Charolois would be pleased to come any-
where near Paris, and send a passport, commissioners
should be sent to wait on him, but nothing farther could be
granted. After this, they desired leave to buy some paper
and parchment, which was granted them, but were denied
sugar and other things that they wanted in their camp for
their sick and wounded ; so that they were forced to return
w ithout these commodities, which they took very ill of the
Parisians.
On Sunday, the 14th of July, 1465, early in the morning,
arrived at Paris the Count de la Borde and M. Cousinot,
who brought letters from the king to his good citizens ol
318 THE SCANDALOUS CIIHONICI-E [1465.
Paris ; in which the king, as he had done before, thanked
them for their zeal and affection to his person, and for their
brave resistance and defence of his capital against the Bur-
gundians, desiring them withal to depend upon whatever
the said De la Borde and Cousinot should tell them in his
name; the substance of wliich was, that the king thanked
them heartily for their loyalty and good affection towards
him, desired tliem to continue firm and steadfast in it, and
that they might depend on his being at Paris (as a place he
desired the most to be in) on the Tuesday following; and
that lie had rather lose half his kingdom than any misfortune
or inconveniency, that was in his power to prevent, should
happen to his good citizens of Paris ; whom he desired by
the said Cousinot to provide lodgings and quarters for his
men at arms, and the retinue that he should bring with him,
and to set a reasonable price on all manner of provision ;
to which M. Henry de Livre, the mayor of Paris, imme-
diately consented, and took all the care imaginable to see it
done.
On the Monday following, theBurgundians broke up from
St. Cloud, and marched with all their artillery and heavy
cannon to Mont Tilery, where they encamped, in order to
join the Dukes of Berry and Bretagne, the Count de Dunois,
and several others that were coming in to the Count de
Charolois. The news of this movement was immediately
despatched to the king, who was on this side Orleans on his
march towards Paris, and who in all haste, by long and
tedious marches, on Tuesday morning, the 6th of July,
arrived at Chartres, near Mont l'Hery ; from whence, with-
out staying so much as to refresh himself, or to wait for the
coming up of his whole army, which was composed of the
finest horse (considering their number) that ever were seen,
he marched directly towards the Burgundians, whom he at-
tacked with so much vigour and intrepidity (though but
with a handful of men), that at the first charge he broke
and entirely defeated their vanguard, of which a great num-
ber were killed and taken prisoners. As soon as the news
of this defeat had reached Paris, above thirty thousand sal-
lied out of the gates, some of whom being horse, scoured
the country round, defeating and tiiking several small bodies
of the flying Burgundians, as did also the inhabitants of the
1465.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 319
neighbouring towns round Paris. The Burgundians lost in
this action great part of their bag and baggage ; and the
whole damage they sustained, reckoning everything, wa»
computed to amount to two hundred thousand crowns of
gold. The king, not being content with defeating the
enemy's vanguard, and hoping to gain a complete victory
over them, without refreshing either himself or his troops,
once more attacked, with only his own guards and four hun-
dred lances, a strong party of Burgundians, who had rallied
under the command of the Count de St. Paul, who did the
Count de Charoluis good service that day. The Burgun-
dians gave the king's troops a warm reception, and being
drawn up in order of battle, with their cannon playing upon
them, sorely galled them, and killed abundance of them,
among whom were several officers of the king's own guard,
who behaved themselves handsomely during the whole ac-
tion, and stood firmly by the king, who was hard put to it
that day, and several times in danger of his own person ; for
he had but a handful of men, and no cannon. The king
was pressed so hard by the Burgundians, that he knew not
which way to turn himself, and was forced to charge at the
head of his troops during this engagement; and though he
had but a small body with him, yet he still maintained his
ground ; and if he had had a reinforcement but of five
hundred Frank archers to have pushed the Burgundians
when they began to give way, he would have gained the
completest victory over them that ever was known in the
memory of man. The Count de Charolois lost all his guards,
and the king a great part of his ; the Count de Charolois
was twice taken prisoner by Jeffery de St. Belin and Gilbert
de Grassay, but was afterwards rescued. Abundance of
men and horses were killed that day, the greatest part of
which were killed by the rascally Burgundian foot, with
their pikes and other weapons tipped with iron, and not
a few men of note fell on both sides. And after the battle
was over, the number of the slain was computed at three
thousand six hundred men ; and towards night, the Scotch
guards, considering the danger the king was in, and the
great loss they had sustained, and finding that the Burgun-
dians were still pursuing those squadrons they had already
broken, took his majesty, who had been in arms all day
320 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1465.
without eating and drinking, and was much fatigued and dispi-
rited, and conducted him safe to the castle of Mont l'Hery ,♦
which was the reason that several in the army, who knew
nothing of the king's removing thither, and not knowing
where to find him, reported he was either killed or taken
prisoner. Upon the news of which the greatest part of his
army ran away, and among the rest the Count du Maine,
the Admiral de Montauban, the Lord de la Borde, and
several other officers, with about eight hundred lances, with-
out ever being engaged at all that day ; by which means the
Burgundians remained masters of the field of battle, on
which were found amongst the slain several persons of
quality and distinction on the king's side, to wit, M. Peter
de Breze, knight and seneschal of Normandy ; Jeffery de
St. Belin, bailiff of Chaumont ; Floquet, bailiff of Evreux,
besides several other knights and esquires. The Burgun-
dians also lost abundance of men, and had more taken pri-
soners than they took of the king's army. After the king
had refreshed himself a little at the castle of Mont l'Hery,
he marched with a strong detachment of his forces to Cor-
beil, where he stayed till the Thursday following, on which
he arrived very late in the evening at Paris, and supped
that night at M. Charles de Melun's, his lieutenant-general,
with several lords and ladies of his court, besides several of
the chief citizens and their wives, to whom his majesty
related the particulars of the action at Mont l'Hery in such
moving and pathetic terms, as drew tears from the eyes of
the whole company; adding withal, that he designed by the
blessing of God to attack the enemy once more on the Mon-
day following, and either die on the spot, or drive them out
of his dominions ; but he was advised not to hazard another
battle, considering the cowardice and desertion of his troops,
that would not stand by him in the late engagement. How-
ever, it was to no purpose, for he was a prince of an un-
daunted courage and resolution.
On Friday, the 19th of July, 146.5, M. William Chartier
Bishop of Paris, with several counsellors and clergymen,
went to wait on the king at his Hotel des Tournelles, and
'lumbly besought his majesty that he would be pleased to
make choice of some wise and prudent council to aid and
assist him in the administration of public affairs for the
1 465. J THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 321
future, to which he graciously consented ; and immediately
it was ordered that six city counsellors, six counsellors of
the court of parliament, and six doctors of the University
of Paris, should be added to the king's ordinary council.
And because the king found he had many enemies in his
kingdom, they went upon ways and means to raise more
forces, and recruit those regiments that had suffered most in
the late action of Mont l'Hery. In order to try how many
men they could raise in Paris, it was proposed that the
number of the inhabitants of every ward should be taken in
writing, and that each ward should furnish ten men; but
there was nothing done in it.
Upon the king's arrival at Paris, abundance of his troops
were forced to be quartered in the villages round that city,
Brie, and other neighbouring places, where they committed
great disorders, not being content with eating and drinking
on free cost, but also plundering the inhabitants of all they
had, and seizing upon whatever they could find, though be-
longing to some of the citizens of Paris. Nay, the king
himself was under some difficulties of raising a sufficient
sum of money to pay those forces he had in Paris, for some
of the princes that had taken up arms against him were in
possession of those very towns on which the taxes assigned
for that use were to be levied, and they refusing to let any
be raised in their dominions, he was forced to borrow money
of his officers and wealthy citizens of Paris, some of whom,
upon their refusal to lend him as much as he proposed, were
immediately put out of all their posts and employments, both
military and civil : among the rest, M. John Cheneteau,
clerk in parliament, M. Martin Picard, counsellor of the
exchequer, and several others.
On Wednesday, the 24th of July, 1465, the king ordered
the bridge of St. Maxence to be broken down, upon intelli-
gence that the Lord de Saveuses was marching with a great
body of forces in order to beat out the king's troops, and put
a garrison of his own into it. On the same day his majesty
gave the command of it to John l'Orfevre, who was the
governor of it, and charged him to defend it to the last ex-
tremity, which he did with so much bravery and resolution,
that there was no occasion to break down the said bridge;
and on the Friday following the king ordered that two bun-.
VOL. II. Y
822 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1465.
dred lanccc, under the command of the Bastard d'Armagnac,
Count de Comminges, the Sieur Giles de Symon, bailiff of
Senlis, the Sieur de la Barde, and Charles des Mares, should
stay at Paris ; and on the same day, at the desire and request
of the Mayor of Paris and some churchmen, his majesty con-
tinued M. Charles de Melun in his former post of lieutenant
of the city.
After the battle of MontPHery, the lords and princes that
were engaged in the confederacy against the king retired to
Etampes, where they stayed for the space of fifteen days,
and upon their breaking up from thence, they marched
towards St. Mathurin de l'Archant, Moret in Gastinois,
Provins, and the neighbourhood of those countries ; upon
which the king, having intelligence of their motions, throws
small bodies of forces with some cannon into Melun, Mon-
tereau, Sens, and other neighbouring towns, to reinforce the
garrisons, and make frequent sallies whenever they had an
opportunity of falling upon the enemy.
On Saturday, the 3rd of August, 1465, the king, being
willing to oblige his good city of Paris by some singular
act of grace and favour, changed the tax of the fourth
penny on retailed wines to that of the eighth, and granted
to all the inhabitants the same privileges they enjoyed in the
reign of his father Charles VII. He also took off all the
taxes that had formerly been levied in the city, except those
on wood, cattle, and cloth, sold by wholesale, which were let
out to the farmers of the revenue ; and on the same day it
was proclaimed by sound of trumpet in all the public streets
oi' Paris, by Denis Hesselin, chief collector of the subsi-
dies ; upon the news of which the common people were so
overjoyed, that they flocked together from all parts of the
city, and filled the streets with bonfires and acclamations
of joy.
About this time the Bretons and Burgundians passed the
Seine and the Yonne upon a bridge of boats, which were
brought from Moret in Gastinois and other places. M.
Salezart, with a brigade of Marshal Joachim's regiment, had
posted himself on the other side to dispute the passage with
them ; but finding himself too weak, and having no cannon
(of which the enemy had great store), he thought fit to re-
tire upon their approach. The Burgundians, to favour the
1465.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 323
passage of th^ir troops, cannonaded the enemy all the
while, and killed abundance of the king's men ; at last a
random shot took off a page's arm, struck a gentleman named
Pamabel, a relation of Marshal Joachim's, in the belly, and
killed three soldiers afterwards.
On Thursday, the 8th of August, the Lord de Pretigny,
one of the king's counsellors, and president of the exchequer,
and Chrisstofle Paillart, a counsellor, also of the same court,
arrived at Paris with an answer to some letters that the king
had sent by them to the Duke of Calabria, who was then in
Auxerrois ; and on Saturday the 10th of the same month,
the king set out from Paris in order to visit Rouen, Evreux,
and several other places in Normandy, and lay that night at
Pontoise ; but before he left Paris, he ordered several com-
panies of Frank archers that were newly arrived from Nor-
mandy, and ahout four hundred lances drawn out of the
regiments of the late Floquet, of the Boulonnois, of the late
Jeffery de St. Bel in, of the Lord de Craon, and the Lord de
la Barde, to remain in garrison for the defence of the city.
About this time M. John Berard, counsellor of the court
of Parliament, went over to the Duke of Berry, who was
then in Bretagne, being highly disgusted at his wife's being
committed to prison, and afterwards banished the city for
holding correspondence with the said duke and the rest of
the princes, who were the king's open and professed enemies.
About this time M. Charles de Melun, who had hitherto
been the king's lieutenant in Paris, resigned his place, which
was immediately given to the Count d'Eu ; but the king, in
consideration of the many services M. Charles de Melun had
done, made him steward of his household, and gave him the
government of the bailiwick and towns of Evreux and
Honfleur.
About this time also a party of Burgundians and Bretons,
who had been refreshing themselves in the town of Provins,
returned to Laigny upon the Marne, and the Friday follow-
ing they came and took up their quarters at Creteil, a house
upon the Seine, Sheelle, Saincte, Bapteur, and several other
places in that neighbourhood. And because the Parisians were
fearful that the Burgundians would once more invest Paris,
there being a report that M. Gerauld, their chief engineer,
bad given out that he designed to erect a battery in the lay*
t a
524 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1465.
stall before the gates of St. Denis and St. Anthony, in order
to bombard the town, and at the same time to make a breach
in the walls, they caused an order to be immediately pub-
lished, by which every one was obliged to repair the next
morning tc the lay-stall with a pick-axe and shovel, to break
it up, and render it unfit to erect a battery on, and accord-
ingly the order was put in execution ; but what they did
signified little or nothing, so that they were forced to build
a great many sheds, erect bulwarks, and throw up trenches
to cover and defend the city, as also the soldiers employed
in its defence.
On the Monday following, the same party of Burgundians
and Bretons that were quartered at Creteil and thereabouts,
being joined by some more forces of their own country,
came to Pont de Charenton, where they erected a battery ;
and began to play upon the tower that defended it, upon
which the garrison, without making the least opposition,
retired to Paris, and the Burgundians and Bretons took
possession of it, and in the evening of the same day they
appeared before Paris, in which several of them were taken
prisoners, and two of the Frank archers of Caen killed. And
that night a body of Burgundians and Bretons, amounting
to about four thousand men, came and encamped in a park
belonging to the Bois de Vincennes. The Tuesday following,
the Count d'Eu sent one M. de Rambures to the princes to
know their intentions, and the next day he returned to
Paris, but the answer they made him was kept very secret ;
and the same day the Burgundians came before Paris, upon
which the Parisians made a sally, but scarce any action
happened between them, only one of the Frank archers of
Alencon happened to be killed by a random shot.
On Thursday, the 22d of August, the Duke of Berry, who
had taken up his head quarters at Beaulce, with several
other princes near allied to him, sent his heralds with four
letters to Paris, one to the citizens, one to the university,
and one to the ecclesiastics, and one to the court of par-
liament. The contents of which were, in short, that he and
the rest of the princes engaged in the same confederacy had
taken up arms for the public good of the kingdom, and that
if they would make choice of five or six able men in the
character of commissioners to treat and confer with them,
1465 1 THE SCANDALOUS CHKONICLE. 325
he would let them know the reasons that had induced him
and the rest of the princes to appear in this open and
hostile manner. Accordingly, in pursuance of these letters,
the following commissioners were deputed to wait on the
princes to hear what they had to propose. On the part of
the city were chosen M. John Choart, the civil lieutenant
of the Chastellet of Paris, M. Francis Hasle, advocate in
parliament, and Arnold Lullier, banker at Paris. The church
of Paris made choice of M. Thomas de Courcelles, Dean of
Paris, M. John de Lolive, doctor of divinity, and M. Eustace
Lullier, advocate in parliament. For the court of par-
liament were chosen M. John de Boulenger, M. John de
Sellier, Archdeacon of Brie, and M. James Founder. And
by the university for the sciences in general were chosen
M. James Minglisant, for divinity, M. John Lullier, for the
law, M. John Montigny, and for physic, M. Auerant de Pa-
renti ; and all these commissioners were introduced and
presented to the princes by William Chartier, Bishop of
Paris.
On Saturday following, all the above mentioned com-
missioners sat in the Hotel de Ville, where several persons of
quality and distinction were assembled on purpose to hear
what proposals the princes had made them, but they came
to no manner of conclusion that morning ; however, it was
agreed that in the afternoon the whole body of the uni-
versity, church, court of parliament, and the chief magis-
trates, should meet together, to take into consideration what
the princes had proposed to the commissioners. At this
meeting, after some debate, they unanimously agreed, that
the calling an assembly of the three estates of the kingdom,
which was the chief thing the princes insisted on, was
highly just and reasonable ; that they would consent to
supply their army witli provisions for money, and that they
should have free admittance into Paris, provided they
could give them security that neither they nor their soldiers
would commit any act of hostility within the town to the
prejudice of the inhabitants; and the king consented to it.
After which the commissioners went a second time to wait
on the princes, and acquaint them with their final resolution.
During the whole time that this assembly were sitting in
council, all the cross-bow men and archers were drawn up
V s
326 THE SCANDAIOUS CHRONICLE. [146.5.
before the Hotel de Ville, to hinder the mob from crowding
and disturbing them, as they would certainly have done,
had they not been prevented by this means.
On the same day there was a review made of all the
ting's forces in Paris, which made a very fine appearance.
First of all marched the archers of Normandy on foot ;
these were followed by the archers on horseback ; and last
of all came the men-at-arms belonging to the companies of
the Count d'Eu, the Lord de Craon, the Lord de la Barde,
and the Bastard of Maine, which might make in all about five
hundred men, well armed and mounted, without reckoning
the foot, which were about one thousand five hundred, or
more. And on the same day the king wrote letters to
Paris, by which he acquainted the inhabitants of his being
at Chartres with his uncle the Duke du Maine, and abundance
of soldiers with him, and of his resolution of coming to
Paris on the Tuesday following. In the afternoon the
Admiral de Montauban arrived at Paris with a good body
of troops, and towards the evening the Duke of Berry broke
up from Beauke, and marched towards St. Denis; but being
told by some of his officers that were with him that Beaulce
was a much safer place for him to be in than St. Denis,
which lay too near the enemy, and upon hearing the news
of the king's coming to Paris, he marched back to his old
quarters.
On the Wednesday following the king came to Paris, at-
tended by his uncle the Duke du Maine, the Lord de Pan-
theure, and several other officers of note; he also brought
back the fine train of artillery he carried with him, and
a great number of pioneers from Normandy, who were all
quartered in his Hotel de St. Paul. And when the king
made his entry into Paris, he was received with the uni-
versal shouts and acclamations of the people ; and the next
day, very early in the morning, the Burgundians and the
Bretons, planting themselves over against the tower of Billy,
saluted him with a triple discharge of their cannon, ac-
companied with drums, trumpets, clarions, and other war-
like instruments of music. The same thing they did also
over against the bastille St. Anthoine, shouting and huzzaing,
and crying out, "To arms, to arms!" which put the whole
city into a dreadful consternation, and immediately they
.465.] THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 327
mounted the walls, and prepared all things for a vigorous
defence. In the afternoon the Burgundians and Bretons
appeared again before Paris, upon which a considerable body
of the kind's regular forces, with some cannon and field-
pieces, were immediately ordered to march out of Paris to
beat off the enemy, who, falling in with a party of them,
killed and took several prisoners that day.
On Saturday, the last of August, the king went with a
strong guard as far as the tower of Billy, to take a view of
the enemy, and commanded the four hundred pioneers that
came from Normandy to cross the Seine, and throw up a
trench over against the English port, and before the H6tel
de Conflans, which was directly opposite to the place where
the Burgundians were posted, quite down to the river Seine.
And because the Burgundians had given out that they de-
signed to pass that river, the king ordered a good body of
troops to be posted there, to hinder them from laying a
bridge over it, and to dispute the passage with them ; and
as soon as the pioneers had passed the river, the king passed
it also in a ferry-boat without alighting from his horse.
On Sunday, the first of September, the Burgundians laid
a bridge over the Seine at the English port; and just as they
were preparing to pass it, a great number of Frank archers,
and other soldiers of the king's party, arrived there, who,
immediately planting some cannon and field-pieces at the
end of the bridge, fired briskly on the Burgundians, and
obliged them to retire, with the loss of several men killed and
wounded ; and a certain Norman swam across the river,
and cutting the ropes with which the bridge was fastened,
it went cleverly down the stream. Abundance of cannon
was fired that day from several batteries that the Bur-
gundians had erected, but from one especially, which played
so briskly on the king's troops that were posted at the En-
glish port, that they were forced to retire.
And on the Tuesday following, ambassadors were chosen
by the king and the Burgundians, in order to adjust the
difference between them. On the king's side were chosen
the Duke du Maine, M. de Pretigny, president of the ex-
chequer, and M. John Dauvet, president of the parliament
of Toulouse; and the Burgundians chose the Duke of Ca-
labria, the Count de St. Paul, and the Count de Dunois. And
Y 4
828 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1465.
as soon as they were nominated, and had received their in-
structions, they went immediately upon the business of ac-
commodation ; and there was a truce granted till the Thursday
following, during which no acts of hostility were committed
on either side ; but both parties took care, in the mean time,
to fortify themselves, and make what preparations they could,
not knowing how matters might happen.
On Monday, the ninth of September, the Bretons and
Burgundians marched into the territories of Clignancourt,
Montmartre, La Courtille, and other vineyards about Paris,
where they spoiled and destroyed the whole vintage, cutting
down all the grapes, green as they were, to make wine for
present drinking; upon which the Parisians were forced
to do the same with all their vineyards round Paris that
had escaped their fury, though the grapes were scarce half
ripe, and it was not the usual season for their vintage ;
besides, it was the worst year for vines that had been known
in France for many years ; so that they called the wine of
this year's growth by the name of Burgundy.
About this time several of the nobility of Normandy
arrived at Paris to serve the king in his wars, all which
had their quarters assigned them in the Faubourg de St.
Marcel, amongst whose retinue there were some particular
persons that committed great thefts and disorders, two of
whom were seized by some of the citizens as they were
forcing their way into the city ; and upon the citizens stop-
ping them, the Normans began to abuse and rail at the citi-
zens, calling them traitors and rebellious Burgundians,
vowing to be revenged of them, and telling them that they
came from Normandy with no other design but to plunder
and destroy the whole city. Of which words a complaint
being made, and an information given by the said citizens
to the mayor of Paris, the principal offender, who spoke
these dangerous words, was condemned to the ignominious
punishment of walking barefoot and bareheaded, with a
lighted torch in his hand, through the streets, and in the
public market-place before the Hotel de Ville, in this shameful
condition, to acknowledge his offence before the town-clerk,
and to ask the good citizens of Paris pardon and forgiveness
for what he had falsely and maliciously spoken, and after-
wards to be bored through the tongue, and banished the city.
1 465. J THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 329
On the Monday following, theBurgundians came and showed
themselves before Paris, amongst whom was the Count de
St. Paul, to meet whom the king went out of Paris, and
they had a conference together, which lasted two hours ; and
as a surety for the Count's safe return, the king delivered
up the Count du Maine, who siaid in the Burgundians'
army till the return of the said Count de St. Paul.
And on the same day a great council was held in the ex-
chequer-chamber, at which, amongst the other officers and
magistrates of that court, the sixteen quarteniers*, the cin-
quanteniersf, and some of the councillors belonging to the
court of parliament, were present ; to whom, by the king's
order, Morvillier, chancellor of France, made a speech, in
which he acquainted them how honourably his majesty had
acquitted himself towards the princes, and what generous
offers he had made them upon their demanding the duchy
of Guienne, Poitou, with the country of Saintonge, or the
duchy of Normandy, as an appanage for the Duke of Berry.
He farther told them that the king's council, who were
there present, had informed the princes that it was not in
his majesty's power to give away or dismember anything
belonging to the crown ; and that since he was pleased to
offer the countries of Champagne and Brie, reserving only
to himself Meaux, Montereau, and Melun, in lieu of the
said appanage, they were of opinion that the Duke of Berry
ought not in reason and honour to refuse it. After this the
assembly broke up, and (all hopes of an accommodation being
vanished) the young seneschal of Normandy was ordered
out with six hundred horse to skirmish with the Bretons
and Burgundians, who were drawn up in order of battle on
the other side of the Seine, and, firing upon them, killed a
gentleman of Poitou belonging to M. Punthieu's regiment,
called John Canreau, Lord de Pampelie.
On the Saturday following, at break of day, one Lewis
Sorbier, whom Marshal Joachim Rouault had left in Pon-
toise as his lieutenant, basely and treacherously betrayed
his trust, and suffered the Bretons and other troops belong'
* Civil officers, having the same power and authority in Paris aa
an alilerman has in London, there being one to every ward.
f Certain officers or magistrates in Paris, somewhat like our aider*
men's dupuucB iu London.
330 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1465
ing to the enemy to possess themselves of the town, having
agreed with them beforehand, that whoever of the Marshal
Joachim's regiment refused to enter into their service, should
have the liberty of marching out with their bag and bag-
gage, without being examined or molested. And as soon as
he had delivered up Pontoise into the enemy's hands, he
marched with some of his confederates to Meulan, where,
not believing that his treason was already known, he thought
that, by showing Marshal Joachim's colours, he would get an
easy admittance ; but upon his arrival at the gates, the in-
habitants of Meulan, who had been informed of his trea-
chery, and were in arms upon the walls, cried out, " Get you
gone, vile and despicable traitor," and fired their cannon
upon him and his party, which obliged him to retire with
the utmost shame and confusion to Pontoise ; and on Sun-
day, by break of day, the enemy came and gave the city an
alarm on the side of St. Anthony's gate, and a great body of
them penetrated as far as St. Anthoine des Champs ; and
in order to dislodge them, several cannon, field-pieces, and
culverins were fired, but there were no sallies made.
About this time the Bretons and Burgundians who lay
before Paris made songs, ballads, lampoons, and other scan-
dalous verses, on some of the chief officers of the court, which
set the king so against them, that he turned them out of
their places. Neither did the king's own soldiers, who were
quartered in Paris, behave themselves much better, but
spent their time in all manner of lewdness, debauching and
seducing the hearts of several wives, maids, and widows,
who left their children, husbands, and places to follow and
live with them.
In the evening, M. Balue, Bishop of Evreux, was set
upon by some people that owed him a spite, in the Rue de
la Bane du Bee, who at the first stroke beat the two torches
that were carried before him out of the servants' hands, and
afterwards they came up to the bishop, who, being mounted
on a stout mule, carried him off cleverly to his own hotel in
the cloister of Nostre-Dame ; by which means he saved his
life, for his servants, who were afraid of being knocked down,
had quite forsaken him ; however, before he made his escape
he received two wounds, one in his hand, and another in one
of his fingers. The king was extremely concerned at this
1465.] THK SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 331
accident, and ordered a strict inquiry to be made after the
assassins ; but they were never discovered.
On the Thursday following, there was a great complaint
made in the Hotel de Ville by some of the citizens against the
soldiers for having spoken and published certain words and
speeches of a dangerous consequence to the inhabitants.
Among other tilings, they boldly affirmed that neither the
city of Paris nor anything in it belonged to the inhabitants,
but to them who were quartered in it ; that they would have
the citizens know that the keys of their houses were at the
soldiers' disposal ; that they would turn out the present posses-
sors, and live in them themselves; and, in short, if the citizens
pretended to make resistance, they should find, to their sor-
row, they were able to conquer them. And the very same
day a foolish Norman said openly at St. Denis's gate that the
Parisians were very weak to think that chaining up their
streets would signify anything against the forces of their
country. A report of these dangerous and insolent words
being made to some of the officers of the Hotel de Ville, they
immediately issued out an order commanding several streets
to be chained up, and that every quartenier of Paris should
cause great tires to be made in every ward under his juris-
diction, and that one of them should be in arms upon the
watch before the Hotel de Ville all night, which was accord-
ingly done. And that very night there was a hot report
that the gate of the Bastille St. Anthoine was left open on
purpose to let the Bretons and the Burgundians into the
town; and, to confirm it the more, several cannon were found
nailed up, and rendered unfit for service.
On the Friday following, two pursuivants-at-arms arrived
at Paris ; one was despatched from Gisors to acquaint
the king of the weak condition of that place, which was
wholly unprovided with everything necessary for its defence,
and to let his majesty know that if he did not send them a
speedy supply of men, arms, ammunition, and provision, they
must be forced to surrender to a body of six hundred horse
that lay before the town. The other pursuivant was sent
by one Hugh des Vignes, a man-at-arms belonging to M. de
la Barde's regiment, and who at that time was at Meulan,
to inform the king that he was assured from very good
hands that the Bretons had a design of surprising Rouen as
332 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1465k
they did Pontoise. if they were not prevented. And on
the same day the ambassadors that were chosen on both
sides dined together at St. Anthoine des Champs without
Paris; and on the next day the same ambassadors on both
sides were assembled again, but in two distinct parties, that
is to say, the Duke du Maine and those of his party, who
were for the king, with the rest of the lords and princes,
were all of them together at the Grange-aux-Merciers.
There were also several others nominated by the king, who
were at St. Anthoine des Champs ; but notwithstanding
this meeting, very little business was despatched this day.
In the afternoon the king received letters from the widow
of the late Peter de Breze, by which she informed his ma-
jesty of her having caused the Lord Broquemont, captain of
the palace at Rouen, to be apprehended upon suspicion of not
being well affected to his government, and having a design
to deliver it up to the Bretons ; but that he need not give
himself the least pain about Rouen, for he would certainly
find all the citizens hearty and true to his interest. The
same day, in the afternoon, arrived the unwelcome news of
the taking of Rouen by the Duke of Bourbon, who entered
the town by the castle of Rouen, which was the weakest side,
and lay towards the fields.
As soon as the princes that lay before Paris heard of the
taking of Rouen, they sent to acquaint the king that his
brother, the Duke of Berry, who was before contented with
Champagne and Brie, would accept of no other appanage
than the duchy of Normandy ; so that the king was forced,
notwithstanding the former agreement, to give the Duke of
Berry the duchy of Normandy, and reserve for himself that
of Berry. The Count de Charolois had for his share the
towns of Feronne, Roye, and Mondidier, for him and his
heirs for ever ; besides, the king gave him during his life
all the lands and towns that were lately redeemed for four
hundred thousand crowns, and had been pawned to his
father Philip, Duke of Burgundy, to which he added the
countries of Guynes and Boulogne, to be enjoyed by him
and his heirs for ever. He also gave to the Duke of Ca-
labria a great sum of money, and lent him a certain number
of troops, which were to be paid by the king, and to be em-
ployed wherever the Duke of Calabria thought fit. Tha
1465.] TUB SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. 333
Duke of Bourbon was to have the same pension, and the
same quota of troops allowed him that he formerly had in
the reign of the late King Charles, besides the remainder of
his wife's marriage dower, which was left unpaid; and this
was all he demanded. The Count de St. Paul was restored
to all his places that had been taken from him during this
unhappy rupture between the king and the princes, and a
considerable pension settled upon him for life. The Count
de Dammartin was also restored to all his lands and pos-
sessions that were confiscated by a decree in Parliament, and
had considerable presents made him by the king. As for
the other lords, they had every one of them a large share,
and departed well satisfied with what they had got.
And on Tuesday, the 1st of October, a peace was pro-
claimed between the king and the princes, and that day
the Count de St. Paul came to Paris, and, having dined with
the king, was conducted into the Hotel deVille, where he was
created Constable of France, and took the oaths accordingly.
And on the same day the king ordered a proclamation to be
issued out, by which free leave was granted to all the inha-
bitants to supply and furnish the Bretons and Bur«undians
with whatever necessaries they wanted ; upon which procla-
mation several merchants of Paris immediately sent a great
quantity of all sorts of provision into the fields before St.
Anthony's gate, which was quickly bought up, especially
the wine and the bread, by the whole army, who instantly
repaired thither half starved, and in a miserable condition,
with their thin, lank cheeks over-grown with hair, and full
of lice and nastiness, and the greatest part of them with-
out stockings or shoes. But every one will be amazed at
the inconceivable strength and richness of Paris, which was
able to maintain four hundred thousand horse, including the
Burgundians, Bretons, Calabrians, Picardians, and the rest
of the enemy's forces for a long time, and plentifully to
supply them, without ever raising the price of any manner
of provision ; nay, immediately after the enemy had left
it, things were sold cheaper than they were before ; and
the whole Thursday following was spent in victualling the
Burgundian camp. The same day the king wrent to make
a private visit to the Count de Charolois near Conflans,
which was looked upon by all persona that hud a respect
334 THE SCANDALOUS CHKONICLK. ^1465
and concern for his majesty, as a very indiscreet action ;
nay, the very Picardians themselves and the rest of the
army could not forbear reflecting upon him, and breaking
their jests upon the Parisians after this manner: " Here, take
your king, who has at last submitted to the Count de Charo-
lois, and meanly condescended to visit him in private ; in
a little time we shall have him at our command."
On Friday, the fourth of the same month, the king gave
orders for the admittance of the Burgundians into the city
through St. Anthony's gate, who, upon that permission,
came in large bodies, and committed several riots and
disorders, which certainly they would never have done
had they not been encouraged by the king's late condescen-
sion in visiting the Count de Charolois in so private a
manner.
On the Sunday following several men of quality and
officers of the army came and supped with the king at Paris
in an hotel belonging to M. John Lullier, the town-clerk, at
which entertainment several ladies of quality and distinction
were also present.
And in this month of October a detachment of the Count
de Charolois's troops came before Beauvais, and summoned
the town to surrender ; upon which the inhabitants set
down the summons in writing, and sent it to the king, who
immediately sent it to the Count de Charolois, with whom
he had lately concluded a peace. The Count de Charolois
sent back word to the king that he knew nothing of the
summons ; and that whosoever had done it, did it without
his knowledge or order. The king returned a very civil
answer to the Count de Charolois, and told him it was not
a fair way of proceeding; that for the future, in pursuance
of the articles of peace that had been lately concluded between
them, he must forbear committing such acts of hostility ;
and that if he had a mind to Beauvais, he should have it.
On the Thursday following, several waggon-loads of gold
and silver, for the payment of the Count de Charolois's
troops, arrived in the Burgundian camp, under a strong
convoy both of horse and foot, commanded by the Lord de
Saveuses ; and on the same day the Duke of Bretagne and
the king came to an agreement in relation to the affair that
was between them, by which compact the king was obliged
i465.j THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. o'-ii
to restore the county of Montfort and several others ; be-
sides a vast sum of money to pay that very army which he,
in conjunction with the rest of the princes, had raised to
invade the king's dominions. The next day M. John le
Boulenger, president of the court of parliament, was sent by
the king's order to the Hotel de Ville to acquaint the mayor
and aldermen of Paris that the Burgundians had a design
to review their army that day before the city gates, and to
desire them to acquaint the common people with it, lest
they should be surprised and astonished to see them thus
drawn up against the town. But after all, the review was
not made in sight of Paris that day, but from the Pont de Cha-
renton to the Bois de Vincennes, whither the king, attended
only by the Count de Charolois, the Duke of Calabria, and
the Count de St. Paul, very imprudently went to see the
review. As soon as the review was over, the king came
back by water to Paris; and the Count de Charolois, upon
his taking leave of his majesty, in the presence of those
lords that attended the king thither, made the following
acknowledgment in these words : — " My lords, you and I are
subjects to the king here present, our lord and sovereign, and
ought to serve him whenever he pleases to command us."
Not long before this, the king had received a private in-
formation of a design formed by some of his enemies either
to kill him or seize upon his person ; upon which he imme-
diately ordered his guards to be doubled, great fires to be
made every night in the streets, the number of the watch to
be augmented, as well upon the walls as in the streets, and
took all the care imaginable to prevent their designs and
secure his own person ; and upon hearing of the surrender
of Caen and several other towns in Normandy, he imme-
diately reinforced the garrison of Mantes with a considerable
body of men-at-arms and Frank archers.
On Tuesday, the 22d of October, the king made a private
visit to the princes at the Grange-aux-Merciers, where all
but the Duke of Berry were met together; and the next day
the Duke of Bourbon had a long conference with the king
in a place without the gates of Paris, on this side of the
ditch of the Grange de Ruilly.
On the Saturday following, the Count de Cliarolois, with
a small detachment, left the army, having first caused an
336 THE SCANDALOUS CHKONICLE. [1465.
order to be published in his camp, by which all soldicra
were obliged, under pain of death, to hold themselves in
readiness to march against the Liegeois, who with fire and
sword had invaded his territories. Sunday, Monday, and
Tuesday the Duke de Berry lay ill of a fever at St. Maur
des Fossez; but being pretty well recovered of his illness by
Wednesday, the 30th of October, and able to go abroad, he
went to wait upon the king at the Bois de Vincennes, where
he did homage to him for the Duchy of Normandy, which the
king gave him for his appanage ; and on the same day the
articles of peace between the king and the princes were
read and published in the court of parliament, and ordered
to be registered in the same court.
And on the Thursday following, the Duke of Berry, the
Count de Charolois, and the rest of the princes, separated,
and went different ways. The Duke of Berry, whom the
king waited on some part of the way to Pontoise, went
into Normandy ; and afterwards the king and the Count de
Charolois retired to Villiers le Bel, where they stayed two
or three days, and from thence the count marched with all
speed through Picardy to make war upon the Liegeois.
On the Monday following, M. Kobert Destouteville, Lord
of Beine, who was mayor of Paris in the reign of the late
King Charles, and had been displaced by the king upon his
accession to the crown, was restored to his former office,
which had been given to James de Villiers, Lord of Lisle
Adam, and that day he sat in the Hotel de Ville as mayor,
and despatched a great deal of the king's business.
On Thursday, the 7th of November, 1465, M. Robert Des-
touteville was conducted to the Chastellet of Paris by M.
Charles de Melun and M. John Dauvet, first president of
the parliament of Toulouse, whom the king had acquainted
with the said Robert Destouteville's having taken the oath
already as mayor of Paris in the room of James de Villiers,
whom, upon his first accession to the crown, he had advanced
to that office. And after the letters patent, by which the
king appointed and constituted the said Robert Destoute-
ville mayor of Paris, were read, he was immediately put
into possession of his office, without givirg the said Villiers
any time to lodge an appeal against him.
On Saturday, the 9th of November, M. Peter Morvillier,
1465.] THE SCANDALOUS CHKONICLF 33?
Chancellor of France, resigned the seals, and was succeeded
in the chancellorship by Juvenal des Ursins, who was in the
same post at the death of the late King Charles VII.
About this time also the king made several alterations
and promotions in his court; amongst the rest, he turned
M. Peter Puy out of his office of Master of the Requests,
and gave it to M. Regnault des Dormans.
After the settling of this affair the king went to Orleans
and took with him Arnold Lullier, banker and citizen of
Paris, whom he commanded to attend him during his stay
there ; he also carried along with him M. John Longuejoye
the younger, who was newly married to Madame Genevieve,
daughter of M. John Baillet, and made him one of his coun-
sellors of state. Before he left Paris, he made M. Charles
d'Orgemont, Lord of Mery, Treasurer of France, Arnold
Lullier Treasurer of Carcassonne, and M. Peter Ferteil
Comptroller of his Household.
The king during his stay at Orleans, made several acts,
laws, and ordinances, turned out several officers of the army,
and gave their commissions to others ; amongst the rest he
took away the command of a hundred lances from Poncet de
Riviere, and made him Bailiff of Mont Ferrant, upon which,
in disgust, he went beyond sea, and visited Jerusalem, and
the Holy Hill of St. Catharine. Several other officers had
their commissions taken from them, and given to others that
did not so well deserve them. The king also restored
Monsieur de Loheac, Marshal of France, to all his former
places in the government, some of which had been given te
the Count de Comminges, Bastard of Armagnac ; and after
he had settled these regulations, he left Orleans, and
marched with his whole army and artillery directly into
Normandy towards Argentan, Exmes, Falaise, Caen, and
other places, in order to reduce them to his obedience, where
he found the Duke of Bretagne, who stayed there some time
with his majesty.
A little after this, the Duke of Berry went from Rouen to
Louviers, thinking to find the Duke of Bourbon there, but
being disappointed of meeting him, he immediately came
back again. Upon his return to Rouen, he was with great
pomp and ceremony conducted into the town-hall by the
Diagistratea of the city, who, according to the usual custom
VOL. II. Z
83S THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. [1465
of the place, acknowledged him for their duke by putting a
ring on his finger; afterwards he took an oath to maintain
and support them in their privileges and franchises, and im-
mediately remitted to them half the taxes they were formerly
used to pay. This act of generosity won the hearts of the
whole city, and so firmly united them to his interest, that
the nobility, gentry, clergy, and the common people, vowed
to sacrifice their lives and fortunes in his service, and to re-
main his faithful and loyal subjects for ever. And afterwards
they presented him an old book of records that was in the
town-hall, and made him read an article in it aloud before
all the people, which gave an account of a king of France
heretofore who at his death left two sons, the eldest of whom
succeeded his father, and the youngest had the duchy of
Normandy for his appanage: how that the elder brother, as
soon as he was settled in his kingdom, demanded a restitu-
tion of the said duchy, and being denied, how he made war
upon his younger brother, and thought to have taken it
from him by force, but his subjects unanimously joining
with him, they dethroned his brother the King of France,
and set up their duke for king. After he had done reading,
they boldly told him they feared nothing ; that their for-
tifications were strong and in good repair ; that tliey had
great store of cannon, arms, ammunition, and provision, and
could upon occasion make a brave defence, assuring him they
would one and all to a man stand by him, and defend him,
themselves, and the town, against any opposers what-
soever.
On the 30th of December of the same year the king in his
return from Lower Normandy arrived at Pont Audemer, and
from thence marched into the county of Neufbourg, from
whence he detached the Duke of Bourbon with a body of
forces to summon Louviers, which surrendered on the Wed-
nesday following, and the Duke of Bourbon took possession
of it for the king, into which his majesty made a public
entry the same day after dinner. From Louviers the king
marched to a town called Pont des Arches, about four
leagues from Rouen, which he formally besieged.
On Monday, the 6th of January, 1466, a proclamation wns
issued at Paris, commanding all the sutlers that were used to
fcH|>plj the army with provisions, to repair immediately to
14G6 ' TI1E SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE. S39
tlie camp before Pont des Arches, and all the prisoners
were ordered to be ready by the next morning, to set out
for the same place, under the command of M. Denis, one of
the four aldermen of the city, who was appointed to take
care of them.
On the Wednesday following the king entered Pont
des Arches, and M. John Hebert with several others who
were in the town retired to the castle, which three days after
was also surrendered to the king. After the surrender of
the town and castle, the citizens of Rouen sent deputies to
treat of an accommodation, who highly complained of the
Dukes of Bourbon and Bretagne. And amongst other requests
and remonstrances that the said deputies were ordered to
make to the king, one was, that his majesty would be pleased
to be reconciled to them, notwithstanding what they had
done ; that he would openly declare that they had not been
wanting in their duty, nor acted contrary to his interest ; and
that he would grant them the same privileges and immu-
nities he had granted his good city of Paris ; to which his
majesty answered, he would consult his council about it.
Whilst this affair was in agitation, several of the king's
party had free admittance into Rouen, and conversed fami-
liarly with the citizens ; in the mean time, the Duke ot
Berry and several of his adherents retired to Honfleur and
Caen, where they stayed for some time. During these
transactions, M. John de Lorrain thought to have made his
escape into Flanders, but was taken and brought before the
king, who disposed of most of the officers belonging to the
duchy of Normandy, putting in new officers, and turning
out the old ones. And after the Duke of Berry's leaving
Rouen, the city was reduced to the king's obedience, upon
which the king dismissed all his Frank archers from his
service till the 1st of March following, sent all his artillery
to Paris, and retired to Mount St. Michael in Lower Nor-
mandy. About that time the king gave the command of
one hundred lances which belonged to M. Charles de Melun
to the Count de Dammartin, who was with him, and not
long after deprived him of his office of high steward of his
household, and gave it to M. de Craon ; however, several
people were of opinion that M. de Melun had done the king
tiigual services, and been very faithful to him, especially iu
z %
140 THE SCANDALOUS CHRONICLE.